does anybody actually care about this game? Quite literally a game to fill in a rest day.
A lot has been said about this game being "meaningless". If it produces good football then it is a good day for everyone.
I think for some teams it brings the best out of them. It can be about grievance ("we shoulda been playing in the final"). For other teams it is related to how they see themselves and their place in the landscape of the world football.They're happy to get that far, and knowledge of being one of the best four teams overall is a pretty good outcome.
Growing up in Poland I clearly remember our elation at beating a decent Brazil side 1:0 in the playoff for the third place in 1974 (in Germany) and then again at beating a very good French side 3:2 in the third playoff in 1982 (in Spain). In each case that was after losing the semifinal to the eventual champions. As I recall there was a lot of good feeling among us from getting a good result in the 3rd place playoffs. Maybe even more than if Poland played in the actual final and lost it. Hard to say which pain is worse, missing out on the final altogether or losing the final.