DOHA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Cup third place play-off is the game that nobody wants to play, with both beaten semi-finalists taking part in a game that only serves to show just how close they got to the biggest prize in world football only to fall at the last hurdle.
Morocco coach Walid Regragui said as much after his side's 2-0 defeat to France in Wednesday's semi-final.
"It's going to be hard mentally, we're going to give playing time to those who have played less," said the coach, who will be without the injured trio of defenders Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd and Noussair Maztaoui for Saturday's match against Croatia.
The "most important thing is to have performed well, to have shown that football in Morocco exists," he said.
"We know we had achieved something great already and that everyone is proud of us. We are pleased with what we have done but feel we could have gone even further," Regruagi commented after the semi-final.
The hope is that with neither side having anything really serious to play for, they will treat their fans to a spectacle of attacking football to say a proud 'goodbye' to Doha. ■
