Morocco coach Walid Regragui said he is excited to face Croatia in the third-place playoff match at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Saturday.
Goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani on Wednesday condemned the Atlas Lions to a 2-0 defeat against France in a semi-final fixture.
The 1976 Africa Cup of Nations winners must now settle for the bronze medal match against Croatia which is a rematch of their Group F opening match which ended goalless.
“I guess it’s the worst game that we have to play, but we’re still excited to play it despite the disappointment,” Regragui said at the pre-match press conference.
“We obviously would have liked to be in the actual final but there is third place we play for. We want to finish on the podium.
“It is going to be quite difficult with fatigue, but there are also mental hurdles that we need to overcome. We know that Croatia will also want to finish third. We played them in our first game so it will be a nice finisher. It will be no walk in the park.”
Questions have been raised on whether the Moroccan players will show the same energy on Saturday but Regragui has affirmed that his players still have the appetite to finish strong.
“When you play a semi-final, and it was our first at a World Cup, the emotions are running high. It was quite difficult coming out of that game,” the ex-Wydad Casablanca boss continued.
“However, my players still have the appetite. They want to finish well and they know they’ve still got one game with everything to play for. They have understood what is at stake.
“Obviously finishing third is not the same as the 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 by France.
“They’ve got their heads around the fact they are part of the best teams in the world. We need to clear our heads and go into this game with our heads held high.”
The third-place match will take place at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday evening while the highly-anticipated final between France and Argetina takes place at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday.
