WHEN Abdulrahman Al Jassim blew the final whistle at the packed Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday, it sparked scenes of pandemonium.

The entire Croatia squad rushed onto the pitch to celebrate their memorable top-three finish at the World Cup. In sharp contrast, a contingent of outraged Moroccan players swamped the Qatari referee over some of his controversial decisions. There was quite a bit of pushing and shoving and Achraf Hakimi had to be dragged away by teammates as the Paris Saint-Germain star’s anger boiled over.

While the chance of achieving the ultimate glory has gone for Croatia and Morocco, both sides displayed remarkable passion and dedication to end the showpiece event on a high note.

In a thrillingly maniacal opening, Josko Gvardiol, who was notoriously embarrassed by Lionel Messi in one of the stunning moments in this World Cup, shrugged off the disappointment of the semifinal defeat to Argentina by giving Croatia the lead inside seven minutes.

True to form, Croatia’s veteran captain Luka Modric, who won his record 162nd cap against Morocco, was the instigator of the breakthrough. The 37-year-old feigned to take a free-kick and created room for Lovro Majer to send a cross into the box instead. Ivan Perisic smartly nodded the ball into the goalmouth where Gvardiol dived in to head past Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

The triumph was also a crowning feat for Modric, the only footballer to break the duopoly of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d’Or from 2008 to 2022. Despite his advancing age, the Real Madrid playmaker finished his club season by lifting the Champions League title and then led Croatia to another top-three finish on his final World Cup appearance.

Modric’s last dance was nothing short of extraordinary. The old maestro started all seven of Croatia’s matches in Qatar, playing for 656 minutes out of a possible 690. He might be in the autumn of his career, but his impact on the pitch has hardly decline. According to stats provider Opta, Modric had the joint-highest ball recoveries (39) in the tournament until in his side’s loss to Argentina, and won nine out of 16 duels in their sensational quarterfinal upset against Brazil.

On the other side, Morocco coach Walid Regragui was full of praise for his squad despite seeing them lose the World Cup third place play-off to Croatia.

“We are disappointed. But when we wake up tomorrow, we will realize what we achieved. I want to congratulate my players. Maybe this was a game too far, but we gave a very positive image of our football,” said Regragui, who was asked about his side’s impact on African football after becoming the first team from the continent to reach the last-four.

“There will be nine African teams in the next World Cup, and I am certain an African team will win the World Cup in the next 15 years.”

(SD-Xinhua)