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FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar Croatia meets Morocco in third-place game

Published

2 years ago

December 17, 2022

It’s a match that nobody wants to play in, but if you’re in it, you might as well win it.

When Croatia and Morocco began their FIFA World Cup journeys last month, their goal was the same as that of the 30 other teams in the tournament – hoist the trophy on Dec. 18. Even though that can’t happen now, the two teams have the opportunity to leave Qatar with something a little more concrete than simply bragging rights when they meet on Saturday in the third-place playoff in Qatar.

A fixture since 1954 at the World Cup, the third-place match normally offers goals galore since teams tend to open up and attack with there being little reason to defend. The 1958 edition saw nine goals, with France defeating West Germany 6-3. In the last third-place match at Russia 2018, Belgium was a 2-0 winner over England.

The match is treated like every other World Cup knockout match, meaning that extra time and then penalties would come into play should it remain level after 90 minutes. Extra time has only been utilized once at a third-place game, when France beat Belgium 4-2 in Mexico in 1986.

In somewhat of a quirk, the third-place match will be a rematch as Croatia and Morocco have already played one another in Qatar. All the way back on Group F’s Matchday 1 on Nov. 23, Croatia and Morocco played to a scoreless draw. The Atlas Lions would go on to top the group on seven points with Croatia advancing on five.

In all honesty, it might be difficult for either team to get up for this match following their emotional defeats in their respective semifinals.

Croatia was well beaten on Tuesday by Argentina with Lionel Messi starring and Julian Alvarez bagging a brace. Morocco’s loss to France on Wednesday was more soul-crushing. The better team for much of the 90 minutes, the Atlas Lions fought valiantly, but France’s superior depth and talent won out in a 2-0 victory that put Les Bleus on course to become the first team in 60 years to win back-to-back World Cups.

So then after seeing your hopes of winning the World Cup taken from you, how do steel yourself to prepare for a third-place match?

Like many teams have before them, Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic and Morocco’s Walid Regragui might choose to field experimental lineups in the third-place match and not rely on the same players they have been during the tournament proper. Teams have used the third-place match as a chance to empty out their bench.

For Morocco, that might be out of necessity.

After the loss to France, Regragui admitted his team had been run ragged, dealing with just too many injuries and illness. Captain Romain Saiss was stretchered off after only 57 minutes against Portugal in the quarter-finals and still somehow attempted to play against Les Bleus, but had to be taken out in the 21st with the realization that he simply couldn’t carry on. West Ham defender Nayef Aguerd was also dealing with an injury that was compounded by illness. He, too, tried to play on Wednesday, but was pulled in warmups.

“I have no regrets about the decision,” Regragui said about relying on Saiss and benching Aguerd. “Nayef’s absence was difficult, and all of these little things meant we got off to quite a poor start. You learn from your mistakes, I do, as well. If all our squad was fit we could have caused them even more problems. At a World Cup, this was one step too far – not in terms of quality or tactics but physically, we had too many players at 60-70 per cent.”

Runners-up in 2018, Croatia came close to becoming the first team since Brazil in 2022 to reach back-to-back Finals. With the match against Argentina out of reach, Croatia’s talisman and the best player the country has ever produced, Luka Modric, was substituted in the 81st. The Real Madrid icon soaked in the cheers and hugged each of his teammates as he came off of the pitch. If that weren’t an official goodbye to international football for the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner, it certainly felt like one.

Whether or not Modric will be a part of the team that takes the pitch on Saturday remains to be seen, but his post-match remarks seemed to indicate he’d like to play. Modric hit out at the semifinal referee Daniele Orsato and his awarding of a penalty to Argentina when Alvarez went to ground after colliding with goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

“I don’t like to talk about referees…but this is one of the worst,” the 37-year-old Modric said. “I [w]on’t have a good memory of him. He’s a disaster. For me, it wasn’t a penalty. Despite this, I don’t want to detract from Argentina. The penalty killed us. We have to recover for third place and win that game.”

On the injury front for Dalic’s team, Marcelo Brozovic appears to be a doubt with the Inter midfielder having come off injured against Argentina.

It’s also highly likely that both Regragui and Dalic will give some of their younger players a run on Saturday with 18-year-old midfielder Bilal El Khannous and a trio of young forwards in Zakaria Aboukhlal, Anass Zaroury and Abde Ezzalzouli seeing playing time for the Atlas Lions and Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Luka Sucic taking the pitch for Croatia at some point.

POTENTIAL MOROCCO XI: Bono; Hakimi, Dari, El Yamiq, Attiyat Allah; Amrabat, Ounahi, Amallah; Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal

POTENTIAL CROATIA XI: Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa; Jakic, Kovacic, Modric; Vlasic, Kramaric, Perisic

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Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

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AP cricket:

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Sports

Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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