Croatia, with the victory, added a third-place finish to the runners-up position they claimed 4 years ago in Russia when they lost to France
By Kehinde Okeowo
Croatia beat the surprise team of this year’s World Cup, Morocco 2-1 in a third place match played at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Atlas Lions were relegated to the loser’s match after losing 2-0 to France, in the semi-finals, while Argentina dispatched Croatia after scoring three unreplied goals in the other semi-finals.
In a frantic opening, Josko Gvardiol gave Croatia the lead in the 7th minute with a superb diving header but Achraf Dari levelled just two minutes later by nodding home from close range.
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Mislav Orsic then curled in a sumptuous second for Croatia via the post three minutes before half-time and struck a thumping, deflected drive into the side-netting after the break.
The second half could not match the energy of a thrilling opening period and Morocco failed to find an equaliser as a fruitful campaign ended in back-to-back defeats.
With the victory, Zlatko Dalic’s side
confirmed their status as one of the elite footballing nations and added a third-place finish to the runners-up position they claimed four years ago in Russia.
Morocco, on the other hand, became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup and play in the third-place match of the tournament.
