Doha Finale: “I can’t believe it!”: Argentina’s Croatia Morocco Soccer Team in the ‘Major League’
The city of DOHA, which is in the state of Qatar. By many metrics, this World Cup in Qatar has been an all-time great. A global audience again in the billions and roaring crowds at stadiums that turned them into hazard zones for the ears; matches that astound and confound.
“Yes, I married into a family that does not care about soccer,” said Scurry when asked if she was married to a soccer player. My mom-in-law and I watched two quarterfinal matches the other day, and she absolutely loved it. Which is uttering something.
Scurry, who calls this tournament “more like March Madness than any other World Cup I think I’ve ever seen,” notes, like many, Doha’s intriguing final four.
“I love France,” Scurry said. “I just love the fact that this team is made up of so many great players that came out of circumstances that were difficult to achieve their dream. That french team was very good last time I saw them. It’s the same again.”
“I felt if there’s a letdown, it would be becauserocco had an incredible game in the quarterfinals to advance to this point,” she said. I wouldn’t be surprised by them. Because it’s hard to do that in a row. The goalkeeper’s going to be crucial in this situation.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/13/1142308208/argentina-croatia-morocco-france-world-cup-semifinals
The Rocky of the World Cup: Why Argentina and Croatia have fought so hard in knockout-stage competitions and how they can become champions
But there’s not only a rooting case for each semifinalist. There’s also a case to be made for all four teams to win two more matches and become World Cup champs.
Argentina is being tested. There was the must-win game against Mexico in the group stage, that Argentina won. They were very excited that Messi’s goal proved to be the winning goal. The Argentina’s life has been on edge since then and the most recent example is against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, when Argentina was given a late two-goal lead, but still won on a penalty kick.
Croatia, the aforementioned fighters, took down tournament favorite Brazil in a match where the Croatian players, yes, fought their way through another grueling extra time period and shootout. Five of Croatia’s last six World Cup knockout-stage matches have gone into extra time.
“We are mentally strong, and we beat England,” the French coach said after the victory. The stronger you become, the more games you win. I think in [this] match, that was pivotal.”
A popular narrative is they’ve surged to the first-ever semifinal berth for an African and majority Arab nation thanks to determination and divine inspiration.
“When you watch ‘Rocky’,” Moroccan coach Walid Regragui said after his team beat Portugal 1-0 in the quarterfinals, “you want to support Rocky Balboa because of his heart and commitment, and I think we are the Rocky of this World Cup.”
Europe’s most well-known teams to date are Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and Croatia. It has given up a lot of zero goals. Canada scored the only goal in the game. But it really wasn’t. It was an own-goal by the Moroccans.
“I can’t think of any other country that’s only given up one own-goal up until this point,” Scurry said. “It’s really hard to do. They defend like their life depends on it. They counter attack like their life depends on it. It’s lightning.”
Whether it was Bono saving penalty kicks against Spain, Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livaković tying history against Japan, Argentine Emiliano Martinez foiling the Netherlands, or France’s Hugo Lloris empathizing with, but beating, Harry Kane and England, this Fab Four of keepers has generated as much buzz in their little confined spaces, as all those other guys running around the pitch.
She said that when a team comes out flat, the goalkeeper is required to stand up and do their job. I experienced it in the 1999 Women’s World Cup semifinal against Brazil. I had more saves than the entire tournament in the one game, and I had six or seven great saves.
We came out flat against Brazil. We had to come from behind twice against Germany and you exhaust your emotions. It’s kind of like an anti-climactic way to go after winning a big game, when a team is flat in the next game.
A tale of vulnerability and humility in the South: the fate of the Moroccan national team in the FIFA World Cup finals after winning the World Cup
It is not only a tale of global south revanchism against historic adversaries, but also a surge of Arab, African and Muslim pride. There is a special moment of vulnerability and self-awareness that I have not seen in the region since the 2011 uprisings.
I am the last person who would normally making such grandiose pronouncements based on a sporting event. In the 1980s my interest in football was total, even though it was called soccer. I was the gangly kid who was picked last when teams were selected in gym class. The closest I would come to the ball was when it hit me in the back of the head as I was drifting across the field. During the World Cup, my friends would collect the Sticker Albums of the players on their teams and I preferred the ones about the dinosaurs.
Your team has just lost in the World Cup semifinals. You’re understandably heartbroken, endlessly replaying the possibilities of what might have been.
After a month-long stay ends in a devastating defeat, you’re looking forward to going back home to see family and friends but, instead, you have to stay and play in the third-place playoff.
If coming third instead of fourth isn’t enough incentive, the winner of the match will also get a bronze medal and a little more cash for their efforts – $27 million instead of $25 million.
Third place playoffs are part of most World Cup tournaments and can be viewed as a nice way to end your tournament after a disappointing defeat.
There are two teams that are very eager to get a bronze medal and some extra money for their federations.
The team has been hugely impressive in Qatar, upsetting Belgium, Spain and Portugal thanks to its defensive organization and attacking verve. Even in the second half of the loss to France, Morocco was largely the better of the two teams and could have taken the match to extra time were it not for a lack of quality in the box.
It was the first African team to finish third in the world and the head coach Walid Regragui will want to ensure that it is not the last.
This group of players will want to finish the World Cup with a place in the history of Croatian football as the best team in history, and so Luka Modric will want to end his career on a high.
Match-breaking results in two-loop resummation of a game played in a stalemate epoch
Three weeks ago, these two teams played out a tense0-0 draw in the opening game of group stages and the result will likely be the same on Saturday.