Regragui on meeting Croatia: The worst match we could play

Moroccan national team coach Walid Rekragui.

Reuters

Moroccan national team coach Walid Rekragui admitted that playing the third-place match for the 2022 World Cup Qatar against Croatia today is "the worst match we can play," because the ambition was to be in the final.

Morocco was hoping to crown its historic career in the World Cup in Qatar by reaching the final, but the adventure ended at the round of four, losing to France, the defending champion, 0-2.

As always, coaches have difficulty motivating their players in order to play a match that is considered a "consolation prize", but Rekragui will try to "beautify" the third place to motivate his players.

“I think it is the worst match we can play,” Regragui said, on the eve of the scheduled meeting at Khalifa Stadium, in a replay of the group stage match that ended in a goalless draw against Luka Modric and his companions.

But we are still excited about it, despite the feeling of disappointment.”

He continued, “Of course, we would have preferred to be in the final, but there is the third place that we have to play for.

We want to finish (the championship) on the podium.”

He admitted that «it will be difficult because of fatigue, and there is also a mental barrier that we must overcome.

We know that Croatia also wants to finish third (the tournament).

When asked if there was any third-place match in the history of the World Cup stuck in his mind, Regragui replied, “Honestly, this ranking meeting bothers me a bit.

It is always complicated, whether it is for us or Croatia, after the disappointment of losing the semi-final you have to play a match after two days... It is a stupid match if we are third or fourth... I would say the same about second place if we were in The final, because we want to be the winners.

Although they would certainly have preferred to play in the final, as is the case with the Croats, the Moroccan players will not “need motivation” to fight in Saturday’s meeting, according to Regragui, “because we are in the World Cup, and we represent Morocco.

Every match, even the friendly, is important for our fans.

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