Croatia - Morocco: The pinnacle of head-to-head defense

*Croatia - Morocco: 10 p.m. Saturday, December 17, on MetaSports.

Although they did not win tickets to the final, both Croatia and Morocco left impressions, although they were not appreciated before the tournament. The gameplay that both apply in most matches is relatively similar when always defending actively, trying to control the midfield and not giving the opponent much space to deploy attacks. Up to the semi-finals, Croatia had only conceded three goals, while Morocco had only conceded once from central defender Nayef Aguerd's own goal.

The midfield area is expected to continue to become a hot spot in the upcoming match with quality personnel in the midfield of the two teams. However, it is likely that Croatia will not have the services of Marcelo Brozovic when the Inter midfielder was injured in the semi-final against Argentina. Kristijan Jakic may be the plan that coach Zlatko Dalic uses instead.

Except Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic is among the few competitors stable in Argentina games. Chelsea border security guard always showed up at the heat spots on the field for dispute, and was willing to set the highest bidder of Croatia by pulling the field. At the semi-semifinal round, Kovacic has succeeded in four of his six shooters and partake in 15 in a situation of control, there was 10-times a win. In the battle of Morocco, the age 28 players will have an opportunity to confront Azzedine Ounahi, an interesting discovery at the World Cup 2022 and the center of the "Lion Atlas" line next to Sofyan Amrabat. The quarterback is fighting for Angers also possess the ability to guide and gain a percentage of success by 77%.

The defense is becoming a worrying position for coach Walid Regragui when the representative from Africa lacks many pillars due to injury. Although the duo of central defenders Roman Saiss and Nayef Aguerd and left-back Noussair Mazraoui had different problems before the match against France, the 47-year-old leader still took the risk. As a result, captain Saiss and Mazraoui were both substituted soon, while Aguerd was withdrawn from the main squad at the last minute due to inability to play.

Although still aiming to win the third prize, Mr. Regragui was realistic when he said that Morocco could have been satisfied with the result at the 2022 World Cup when becoming the first African team in history to reach the semi-finals. "We wanted to get to the final game, but small mistakes prevented the team from doing so," said the 47-year-old coach. "The players did what they could, but we can't rely on miracles to win the title, we need to work harder to realize that dream next time."

With the absence of many key players due to injury, Regragui also said he will use players who have not had many opportunities to play in the World Cup against Croatia.

On the European side, in addition to Brozovic's case, coach Dalic is likely to be without the service of young talent Josko Gvardiol due to a foot injury. After six matches at the 2022 World Cup, Croatia had to receive 75 shots from the opponent - more than any other team in the tournament. The fact that Dalic's team only conceded three goals before the match against France has no small merit for Gvardiol.

In the last 10 matches to win bronze medals, representatives from Europe all won. In their first World Cup appearance in 1998, Croatia finished third after beating the Netherlands 2-1. Therefore, according to Stats Performance, the win rate of the 2018 World Cup runner-up before the match against Morocco is marginally better with 43.1%, while for the "Lion of Atlas" it is 30.9%. The probability of the two teams entering extra time is 26%, however, the above situation is unlikely when only one of the last 19 matches for the third prize has to be decided after 90 minutes.

If the "Lion of Atlas" does not let Croatia concede in the upcoming match, the African representative will become the eighth team in history to keep a clean sheet in five matches at a World Cup.

At the pre-match press conference, coach Dalic expressed respect for what Morocco has shown throughout the tournament. "Morocco has a cohesive play and was the biggest surprise at the World Cup when they hit Belgium, Spain and Portugal respectively," he said. "Croatia does not take the game for third place lightly and will arrange the best players to face Morocco."