Morocco captain Saiss not available for third-place play-off: Regragui

Sport

Published: 2022-12-16 14:19

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 20:17


Morocco captain Saiss not available for third-place play-off: Regragui
Morocco captain Saiss not available for third-place play-off: Regragui

Morocco coach Walid Regragui said Friday during a press conference that captain Romain Saiss will not be available for the 2022 World Cup third-place play-off match against Croatia, AFP reported.

He said, “Honestly, this third-place play-off match annoys me a bit. Honestly, it's always really hard for the two teams -- for Croatia or for us -- to play a match two days after the disappointment of losing a semi-final. I'm going to be a bit crude, but for me we are like fools playing for the foot of the podium.”

“We have pushed ourselves to the limit and even now they (the players, ed.) are all still ready to try to play until the end. But we won't take any risks on some players, including our captain who will not be available for the third-place play-off (Romain Saiss, ed.),” he added.

Regragui continued, “I take my hat off to (Luka) Modric after his performance in the first match (against Morocco, ed.). He is an incredible player, what he is doing at 37 years old is truly monumental. If there was anyone who wondered why Modric has won a Ballon d'Or in his career, today there is no doubt that he deserves it.”