It will be difficult for Kolo Muani to redeem himself from that one-on-one that won him the Shark Martinez in the last gasp of extra time in the Qatar World Cup final that would have proclaimed France champions. At least, even if it was with the help of a rebound, he managed to score the goal that gave France a place in the quarter-finals. blue with five minutes left. The fact that his shot was not clean was worthy of the intensity of the match that the French and Belgians played out at the Sprit Stadion in Düsseldorf.
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Mike Maignan, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, Théo Hernández, Jules Koundé, Adrien Rabiot, N’Golo Kanté, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé and Marcus Thuram (Randal Kolo Muani, min. 61)
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Koen Casteels, Jan Vertonghen, Timothy Castagne (Charles De Ketelaere, min. 87), Arthur Theate, Wout Faes, Kevin De Bruyne, Amadou Onana, Jérémy Doku, Yannick Carrasco (Dodi Lukébakio, min. 87), Romelu Lukaku and Loïs Openda (Orel Mangala, min. 62)
Goals
1-0 min. 84: Vertonghen
Referee Glenn Nyberg
Aurelien Tchouameni (min. 13), Griezmann (min. 22), Rabiot (min. 23), Vertonghen (min. 75), Orel Mangala (min. 92)
Another packed stadium to see a meek France continue in the competition without its stars shining. Deschamps has had a full house in this Euro. Fourth game and fourth bore for France. With poor results and games of the same nature, they were already proclaimed world champions in 2018. Why change? One-sidedness is part of their main script. The physical exuberance of Tchouameni, Rabiot, Kanté, Upamecano, Sadiba or Theo Hernández gives them more than enough to contain their rivals. Attacking is another thing, but some of their individualities can decide games. Neither did Belgium contribute to the emergence of a game to remember. At least a drinkable stretch that certified that two teams were playing made up of a handful of good footballers on each side,
Excessive respect disfigures the line-ups and flattens the game, no matter how shiny they are. Even if the formations are threatening. France’s line-up featured Griezmann and Mbappé as wingers and Marcus Thuram as the penalty area leader. When push came to shove, Deschamps did not dare to carry out the tests with the figurative diamond in which Griezmann occupied the top vertex behind his two attacking partners. It must have been too much of a shine for the conservative French coach.
Opposite, Tedesco’s Belgium looked good with Doku, Openda, Carrasco, Lukaku and De Bruyne in charge. It was scary to see the latter in the centre circle hitting so many long balls when they came to him after endless passes from the central defenders Vertonghen and Faes. What De Bruyne plays and how he plays with Pep Guardiola at City is another thing, another sport. It’s a bad thing when two coaches decide which risks are just right. The result was one of those games in which one relies more on a mistake by the opponent than on one’s own potential to unbalance.
If Tedesco’s approach hinted at a sense of inferiority, Deschamps’s exuded an unnatural stubbornness. Griezmann is no longer able to overflow on the wing. He can unload a play with one touch and little else. Mbappé is not comfortable staying so close to the touchline either. Neither of them benefited from Deschamps giving flight to Koundé and Theo Hernández. The latter is a disruptive colt with spaces in front of him. In static, he was stuck with Mbappé. It was no coincidence that France’s goal was made with Theo Hernández dribbling inside and Griezmann in the half moon of the area to organize the offensive traffic. Freedom can organize talent.
If Belgium didn’t want the ball, France didn’t know what to do with it to set up the game that wins matches. The game was dominated by the slate, with no scratches for Maignan or Casteels. A classic match of kill-kill, as the Brazilians call the qualifiers, in which fear castrates inventiveness. Some skirmishes by the agitator Doku, another who enjoys it more with Guardiola, or a header from Thuram were the crumbs left by both teams.
Play for nothing
Neither Deschamps nor Tedesco strayed from their scripts, willing their players to continue the battle that a winner must fight by attrition. Both opted for a long match and at times exceeded their expectations because it seemed eternal. France became a little more relaxed in the second half as Belgium entrenched itself more in its idea of prolonging the game so that nothing would happen. Tchouamení tested Casteels with some intention for the first time. Mbappé had that little moment in which he becomes active to see if he could win the match on his own. De Bruyne also showed his class with a through ball that Carrasco wasted.
The play was proof that the former is more suited to combining and playing from below than to hitting long passes that provoke second plays with Lukaku’s passes. The latter also dusted off Maignan’s gloves with a hard shot. It had to be in one of the few well-connected plays by France that the match was decided. The ball fell to Theo Hernández and he began to dribble parallel to the edge of the area until he was able to connect with Griezman in the semi-circle. The latter, with a touch, opened up to Koundé, also with his hair loose, entering the area. The Barça player combined with Tchouamení who saw Kolo Muani’s short run. The shot rebounded off Vertonghen and beat Casteels.
If the play was above the game, the rebound that sent the PSG striker’s shot into the Belgian goal was certainly on par with it. A bore.
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