An ordinary World Cup game. Two cautious sides oriented most on defending, with more than solid walls in the back. Goalless draw. Nothing much to remember, really.Spirited Morocco grab point against 2018 finalists CroatiaHuh, what a mistake we made there. Not our reporter Stephen, of course, because he brought a colorful report of the match itself. But a group stage opener between Morocco and Croatia played at Al Bayt Stadium in Al-Khor on November 23, turned out to be anything but a ‘one more game’. It was – now we see – the clash of the future WC dark horses. In such an early stage, especially considering those two clean sheets, it was almost impossible to predict they would reach the competition’s penultimate round.Give me a Croatia v Morocco final. Couldn’t care less if these sides are defensive or boring. I want history. I want upsets. I want grown men crying because they’ve achieved the impossible.— Stefan Bienkowski (@SBienkowski) December 10, 2022 Sure, the Croats are still the current runners-up from 2018, and from day one, Morocco proved their mission in Qatar is not to stay in the shadows of a genuine bystander but to show what African football is capable of. But, let’s be honest, there are only a few in the entire world of 8 billion people who could have foreseen their incredible performances and results that were yet to come.Ageing might be unstoppable, but so is the class: Croatia rise from an early abyss to thump CanadaOne thing they definitely have in common – cutting edge tactics and defensive virtues. Croatia conceded just two goals in the previous five games, with one of them accidentally coming after less than two minutes against Canada and the other from Neymar in the overtime of that dramatic quarter-final. That’s it. All the others and there were only a few, came in the penalty shootouts against the Selecao and Japan.The dream of the sixth World Cup title is over – Croatia sends Brazil home!And Walid Regragoui’s side is even more impressive – one own goal (against Canada, too), and that’s all! No one has found the back of their net, and the rivals were – just to mention – Croatia, Canada, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Massive!Cameroon in 1990, Nigeria in 1994, Ghana in 2010 – they could only dream of doing THISIt’s not the first time in the recent WC history that two group-stage opponents reach the semifinals (Brazil and Sweden in 1994, Brazil and Turkey in 2002), only this time they won’t meet each other. At least, not until the showdown.France eye World Cup glory as Morocco loomTwo gaffers, Dalic and Regragoui, are probably thoroughly analysing that fixture from two and a half weeks ago as we speak. They are trying to find some missing puzzle, the key to opening the rival’s doors, in case France and Argentina – albeit favourites – sign their names into the already long list of fallen greats.##NAJAVA_MECA_6881967##The Croats are in a slightly better position, as they’re in their third semifinal since 1998, and that Argentine side lacks depth and someone to join unplayable Lionel Messi. Morocco, on the other hand, have nothing to lose against the defending champions. For the team that has already topped Belgium, Spain and Portugal, nothing seems like a challenge too big. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6883462##Actually, maybe that very match against Croatia at the beginning of the World Cup showed Hakimi, Amrabat, Ziyech and the rest of the boys their dreams are not that surreal.That Wednesday, the Atlas Lions put the runners-up out of their comfort zone with their own powerful weapon – rock-solid defending. And perpetuated that further on.If they eventually meet in the final, it will be a skirmish between the two twin sides. Still, deserved.QATAR 2022 WORLD CUP1/2 FINALSTuesday22.00: (1.95) Argentina (3.40) Croatia (4.50)Wednesday22.00: (1.60) France (3.70) Morocco (7.50)***odds are subject to change
