Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has warned that his players must be up front about their physical condition ahead of their World Cup third-place playoff against Morocco, including Inter’s Marcelo Brozovic.
Having lost 3-0 to Argentina in the semi-final on Tuesday, Croatia have the chance to secure the bronze medals when they face their North African opponents at the Khalifa International Stadium later today, but their are concerns over the fitness of some of the squad.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference yesterday, and as reported by FCInterNews.it, Dalic revealed that whilst he understood the desire of his players to feature in the match, he urged them to be honest about whether they were risking injury.
“Whoever is 100% ready will take to the pitch, everyone would like to play to win the bronze medal, but we will evaluate carefully,” the 56-year-old declared.
“We don’t want to use players that are not 100% ready, that’s why we have to be honest with each other and say if anyone is not well. I will talk to the group today and tomorrow, and then make a final decision.
“This is our seventh game, which is a lot, also because we went to extra time twice. There were consequences in terms of injuries, like for (Josip) Juranovic, Brozovic and (Josko) Gvardiol. Something happened that we hadn’t planned for.”
Despite this being a decider for the third-place rather than the final, Dalic insisted that his side would take it seriously and were determined to beat Morocco.
“This is a great final for us, we are playing to win a medal. We have the utmost respect for Morocco, one of the most best surprises of the tournament, who, like us, will play with the best team possible to try to win,” he added.
Croatia finished as runners up in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and came close to another final after overcoming Japan and Brazil in the knockout stages, before falling to defeat against Argentina.
