World Cup 2022: We Need To ‘Clear Our Heads’ For Croatia After ‘Emotions Flared’ – Morocco Boss

Walid Regragui, the coach of Morocco, has explained why his team needs to relax before their World Cup match against Croatia on Saturday.

When the Atlas Lions play Croatia in the third-place playoff game on Saturday at Khalifa International Stadium, they will have the opportunity to finish their career with a bronze medal.

World champions France overcame the North African 2-0 in the semifinals to put an end to their fairytale run in the international championship.

The 47-year-old Regragui has expressed how challenging it was to fall short against Les Bleus in advance of the matchup against the Vatreni.

Regragui told reporters ahead of the game, “We need to clear our heads a little bit because when you come out of a semi-final, it’s the first time that we had ever played a semi-final in a World Cup and emotions are running high. Emotions were flaring and it was quite difficult for us coming out of this game.”

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Regragui is confident that his players are aware of the importance of their final game in the Gulf country, despite the disappointment of losing to the world champions.

“However, my players still have that appetite. They want to finish well and they know that they’ve still got one game with everything to play for. I think that they have understood what’s at stake,” added Regragui.

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“Obviously finishing third is not the same as finishing fourth and it would be great to take a medal home with us. We want to ensure that we finish well and my players have digested the defeat.

“I think that they have also got their heads around that they are one of the best teams in the world. They were in the semi-finals. So we need to clear are heads and go into this game.”

After defeating Portugal 1-0, Morocco became the first African nation to advance to the World Cup’s last four. The Atlas Lions completed their group games unbeaten as well.

Prior to Argentina playing France in the championship game on Sunday, the North Africans will now play Croatia in the third-place playoff game on Saturday.