🥇 MOTM: Farewell to a Croatian hero? | OneFootball

Croatia put in another hardworking performance to seal third place at the World Cup with a 2-1 win over Morocco.

And our Man of the Match is …

Luka Modrić (Croatia)

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Morocco were lauded as one of the surprise stories at this World Cup – and while their achievement has been nothing less than remarkable – it’s easy to forget that Croatia have battled against the odds to earn third place at this tournament.

While they were the losing finalists in 2018, only eight players from that squad had made it to 2022. Their ageing side was the oldest in this World Cup, and following the retirement of Mario Mandžukić, they had no obvious choice to play in that striker role.

Coupled with the fact they would inevitably have to face Brazil in the knockout stages, they never should’ve made it this far.

Yet with almost perfect organisation, hard work, and enough quality in the squad, they defied the odds to take third place.

Coach Zlatko Dalić deserves a lot of credit for the way he set up his side, but 37-year-old Luka Modrić was the man to bring those instructions to life on the pitch.

In what is likely his last ever World Cup match, Modrić typified his entire international career with a truly influential performance.

Successful with every one of his long ball and take-on attempts, the Real Madrid man won back possession six times, made two tackles, two interceptions and was accurate with 93% of his passes.

Once Croatia had gone 2-1 up, their refusal to give the ball away meant that there was no way back for Morocco.

And they couldn’t have done any of it without their captain.