Croatia lead 2-1 against Morocco at half time in 3rd-place deciding match

Agencies :
Mislav Orsic curled in a brilliant goal in the 42nd minute to give Croatia 2-1 lead over Morocco at half time in an open and entertaining World Cup third-place play-off on Saturday. The place-deciding match was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar.
Croatia went ahead after seven minutes with a clever free kick routine as Ivan Perisic peeled away then headed the ball back across goal for the masked Josko Gvardiol to meet it with a diving header from 13 yards out.
The lead lasted less than two minutes as a Moroccan free kick looped up off the head of Lovro Majer and Achraf Dari bravely followed it to head in from close range. Both teams created some good chances before Orsic struck with a brilliant shot over and beyond goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and in off the post to restore Croatia’s lead.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic made five changes from the team beaten 3-0 by Argentina in the semifinals, bringing Lovro Majer into the midfield in place of Marcelo Brozovic.
Josip Stanisic and Josip Sutalo came on for their first appearances of the tournament in defence as Dejan Lovren and Josip Juranovic dropped to the bench.
Mislav Orsic and Marko Livaja were also included from the start in a repeat of a Group F match against Morocco last month, which finished 0-0.
Hakim Ziyech captained Morocco, with Romain Saiss among the substitutes after injury forced him off early in the 2-0 semi-final loss to France.
Belgium-born teenager Bilal El Khannouss was handed his Morocco debut in midfield alongside Abdelhamid Sabiri. Yahya Attiat-Allah gets the nod at left-back in the absence of Noussair Mazraoui.
Croatia: Dominik Livakovic, Josip Stanisic, Josko Gvardiol, Josip Sutalo; Mislav Orsic, Lovro Majer, Luka Modric (Captain), Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic; Marko Livaja and Andrej Kramaric
Morocco: Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Achraf Dari, Jawad El Yamiq, Yahya Attiat-Allah; Sofyan Amrabat; Abdelhamid Sabiri, Bilal El Khannouss; Hakim Ziyech (Captain), Youssef En Nesyri and Sofiane Boufal.