We round up the key Fantasy talking points from Saturday’s third-place play-off in our Scout Notes summary.
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CROATIA 2-1 MOROCCO
- Goals: Josko Gvardiol, Mislav Orsic | Achraf Dari
- Assists: Ivan Perisic, Marko Livaja | Hakim Ziyech
All clean sheets had disappeared by the ninth minute, as two centre-backs had already scored headers from free kicks. It meant that Josko Gvardiol ($4.0m) and Achraf Dari ($4.5m) were the only defensive players to score more than one point in this third-place play-off, to the frustration of Achraf Hakimi ($5.0m) and Yassine Bounou ($4.5m) owners.
There was further disappointment for those with Borna Sosa ($3.5m) and Josip Juranovic ($5.0m), as neither full-back played any part at all.
Moroccan goalkeeper Bounou almost made a comical error in the third minute, as his attempt at passing the ball to a team-mate almost went into his own goal. It encouraged a busy start to proceedings.
With no pressure on either side, the first half was much more fun than their goalless Group F encounter of 24 days ago. A clever free-kick routine was flicked by Ivan Perisic’s ($7.5m) head onto a Gvardiol diving header that put the Croats 1-0 up, yet within two minutes the masked RB Leipzig man had committed a foul that led to an immediate equaliser.
Hakim Ziyech ($7.0m) was awarded an assist, as the subsequent set-piece reached Dari via Luka Modric’s ($8.5m) head. The experienced Real Madrid man almost made amends but a 24th-minute shot was saved by Bounou, before Youssef En-Nesyri ($5.5m) headed a Ziyech corner wide.
Morocco had made four changes from their semi-final defeat to France, where their calculated risks on three hurt defenders quickly backfired. Sosa and Juranovic were part of five Croatian alterations, with two of the new guys combining to score the game’s winner.
A bright move arrived at Marko Livaja’s ($5.0m) feet, laying it off for an exquisite curling finish from Mislav Orsic ($5.0m) that went in off the post.
The second half failed to bring a goal for Perisic. Just one more is needed for him to become Croatia’s outright top World Cup scorer of all-time, so to see him start at left-back after a tournament of playing within the front three was a real shame.
However, he did end on five FIFA Fantasy points after gaining an extra one for multiple key passes. Lovro Majer ($5.0m) also received this bonus, with Mateo Kovacic’s ($6.5m) half-dozen tackles adding two points.
Things were generally quieter after the break, although a huge penalty appeal was overlooked by the referee. To the shock of most, Sofyan Amrabat ($5.5m) was not punished for bringing down Gvardiol’s surge into the box.
Straight up the other end, Dominik Livakovic ($5.0m) made a great save to deny En-Nesyri, whilst the Sevilla forward headed a cross over the bar right at the very end.
So the 2018 runners-up held on for victory, finishing inside the top three for the third time in just six World Cup tournaments.
HAKIMI’S CONSTANT THREAT
Croatia XI (4-2-3-1): Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Perisic; Modric, Kovacic; Kramaric (Vlasic 62), Majer (Pasalic 66), Orsic (Jakic 90+5); Livaja (Petkovic 66)
Morocco XI (4-3-3): Bounou; Hakimi, Dari (Benoun 64), El Yamiq (Amallah 68), Attiat-Allah; El Khannouss (Ounahi 56), Amrabat, Sabiri (Chair 46); Ziyech, En-Nesyri, Boufal (Zaroury 64)
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