Why have African nations succeeded in winning the FIFA Fan Fest? A touching story of Tarig Saad’s experience in Doha (South Africa)
Morocco started the second half with chance after chance after chance in front of the French goal. The pride of Africa played with renewed energy and enthusiasm but couldn’t score as they kept the reigning champion on the defensive.
Morocco’s best opportunity to score came in the 43rd minute. Jawad El Yamiq had a beautiful bicycle kick off a corner kick that seemed to surprise everyone except French keeper Hugo Lloris who just pushed it away.
At the FIFA Fan Fest in Doha, thousands of fans squeezed in to watch the game on an outdoor big screen TV. They supported every move, every shot, and every time the players touched the ball. As the game ended, Tarig Saad was gleeful. He’s originally from Sudan and is now in Saudi Arabia. He traveled for ten hours to get to Doha.
Why has it taken African nations so long to achieve this kind of success? “The competition is very high. Football is like an industry. “If we spent the same money as Spain, we would be better than Argentina or Brazil.”
An incredible moment for Cristiano Ronaldo and his first international goal in the 1-0 defeat to Morocco in the first team tournament of the World Cup
For a second straight match, star Cristiano Ronaldo started the game on the bench for Portugal. The star hasn’t scored a goal at this tournament but he was one of the best to ever play the sport. His replacement, who scored three goals, didn’t really impress. The man was taken out in the 51st minute. As the game ended, he appeared to wipe away tears as he walked off the field.
Theo Hernández scored on five minutes with an acrobatic finish, with substitute Randal Kolo Muani tapping home late on as France reached its fourth World Cup final just four years after winning in Russia.
France is the first defending World Cup champion to reach the final in two decades. France hopes to win back-to-back World Cup titles as they await Lionel Messi and Argentina.
We are here again. It’s just an amazing feeling,” France captain Hugo Lloris said afterwards, per FIFA. “We suffered a lot, especially in the second half. We played too deep and they showed they’re not a team only focused on defending. They know how to use force. They deserved a lot of credit for this event.
Not that France were flustered by the vociferous support for Morocco at the Al Bayt Stadium and it didn’t take long for Didier Deschamps’ team to take control of the match.
In the game against England,Antoine Griezmann had a chance to break into the box after a slip by the defender, but he took advantage of it.
Olivier Giroud, who is joint-second goalscorer at the tournament behind Mbappé and Messi, missed two glorious opportunities for France to extend their lead.
His shot cannoned off the post as he broke towards the Morocco goal, before he curled just wide on the very next chance he had.
El Yamiq came within inches of giving his country a route back to the semifinals when his bicycle kick came off the corner of the post.
When the Atlas Lions had a chance, their best bet was to play around a scrambling France defense and score.
Then just seconds after being on the field as a substitute, he scored his first international goal and confirmed France’s place in Sunday’s final.
The fastest goal for a substitute in the history of the World Cup was scored by Muani, scoring 44 seconds after coming on.
Fight for a world title in the final game between France and Argentina at the LHC: France vs. Argentina in Lusail Stadium
For France, an mouthwatering final against Argentina at Lusail Stadium on Sunday will see Mbappé face his PSG teammate, Messi, as the two nations clash to decide the 2022 world champion.
Les Bleus are trying to become the first side to retain the World Cup since Brazil did it 60 years ago.
A World Cup winner with France as a player in 1998 and as Les Bleus’ coach in 2018, Deschamp said that he wants his players to savor their achievements at Qatar 2022.
“Obviously this was an important match. Deschamps said that there would be one last one. “It’s been a month we’re together with the players. It’s never easy.
“But it’s been such a joy until now, and that my players, the group has been compensated for this success. We will fight for the title on Sunday.
We are going to take the time. I told my staff and players to take every moment in the day to appreciate and savor it. In four days, we are going to play for a world title. We’ll get ready for the last match of this World Cup and enjoy it now.
Maroc Lions in the Third-place Playoff: The Case for a Classic World Cup First Class? The Case of Morocco, Italy, Spain and Libya
The first half goal wasn’t the only down moment for the Atlas Lions. In the 21st minute, Morocco made an early substitution replacing their captain Romain Saiss who was injured (another defender, Nayef Aguerd, was pulled from the starting list just before kickoff also due to an injury).
Your team just lost in the semifinals of the World Cup. You’re understandably heartbroken, endlessly replaying the possibilities of what might have been.
You want to go back home to see family and friends after a devastating defeat, but 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.
The teams that play in the third-place playoff at the World Cup are the most important. Four years ago in Russia, England played as if it couldn’t have cared less for the match, while the likes of Uruguay in 2010, though losing to Germany, and Croatia in 1998 were certainly considerably more eager to try and win.
In this year, two teams in Croatia and Libya are hoping to get a bronze medal and $2 million extra for their federations.
The team has excelled in the region, defeating several countries, including Belgium, Spain and Portugal. 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.
After already making history, Morocco and head coach Walid Regragui will want to cement themselves further into the record books by also becoming the first African team to finish third.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/16/football/morocco-croatia-world-cup-third-place-playoff-spt-intl/index.html
Luka Modri: His 37th year at the Croatian national team and his legacy in the semifinals of the World Cup?
Argentina demolished Croatia in the semifinals to eliminate them from the World Cup and make up for their loss in the final four years ago.
Luka Modri is the captain of the Croatian national team, who is in his 37th year, and he still has a question mark over his future with the team.
Three weeks ago these two teams played out an evenly matched stalemate in the first game of the group stage, and they will face each other again on Saturday.
I want to congratulate Morocco because they did a great job. Really I am proud, very happy. Maybe it wasn’t expected that Croatia would do something big again but we are a small country with big dreams and congratulations to everyone. We wanted to be a winner and not a loser.
Modri is our captain and he played well in this tournament as well. He played like a 25-year-old maximum but was 37 years old. Everybody follows him and he is our leader.
Croatian defenders in the first 10 minutes of a 2-1 defeat at the Kopenhagen International Stadium: a remarkable display from the beginning
Defending was at a premium from the beginning. Having played out a goalless draw earlier in the tournament, within the first 10 minutes at the Khalifa International Stadium both sides had found the back of the net.
First, Croatia’s star young defender, Gvardiol, put his side ahead in the seventh minute after a superbly worked free kick. The clipped ball into the area was headed backwards by Ivan Perišić for the 20-year-old to power his side ahead.
With the support of his country’s fans again, Youssef En-nesyri’s headed the ball from a corner, but it wasn’t to be.
Croatia is more likely to score in the final few minutes than Morocco is, due to the fact that it needs a goal.