You are correct. Kante was great as well .His movement off the ball is something to watch. He was especially great that first half.
France will collapse like in the Euro 2016 final. Don't write off England & Croatia. Absolutely nobody expected Portugal to beat them in the final. Everything favored France: 1. History was completely on France's side 2. France were the hosts 3. France were much more impressive en route to the final 4. France had faced the tougher teams 5. Ronaldo (arguably the heart of Portugal) went off injured early And yet Portugal still won. Every single person was writing off the Portuguese and look at what happened. Never write off a team in a World Cup final, regardless of how they got there.
Umtiti's goal took a slight deflection off of Fellaini. It goes to show how tight Fellaini was on Umtiti. Not an easy goal and ultimately the game was decided by a matter of inches. I don't think the fact the game was settled on a set-piece is a big surprise. Very little really separated these two teams, so it was bound to happen. And once again, as we saw Varane do in the win over Uruguay, France won via a big center-back's header. I thought it was a good game. Hazard's command over the ball and opposition players was at times spectacular, but it lacked a killer's touch. Mbappe too played with real excitement, although I felt Giroud let him down. Both were enjoying themselves and they were fun to watch. I feel for Belgium. This might prove to be the best opportunity they had with this generation of winning a World Cup. This really felt like this could be their moment, but alas France got the decisive goal. I think France are now favorites to win, but that was true at Euro 2016 too. We'll see.
Who said they collapsed in Euro 2016 ? They came within a cm of winning with a late shot off the inside of the post. People need to stop exaggerating stuff as football is a game where sometimes the difference maker is getting a break or a little bit of luck.
If Japan defended deep with eleven in the box, it would have invited enormous pressure. Some are good at dealing with this pressure, some are not. I don't know if Japan can deal with that kind of pressure well. The fact is they conceded on opportunities when they had most of their numbers packed in and around the area. Belgium were a bigger team who were stronger in the air. Belgium grabbed two goals with headers to even things up. I do agree that Japan could have sneaked a third past Belgium, which would have won the game. Kompany was not top of his game and Belgium we're not using their physicality effectively at all against the Japanese players. They allowed Japan to play. I didn't expect much from Japan at this World Cup. They more or less did the same thing Spain had done with their management of the team. This Japan side didn't have high expectations. Players like Kagawa, Honda, and Nagatomo were no longer at sides like United, Milan, and Inter. And I think they were a bit fortunate to have beaten Colombia who went down a man early in the match, the only game they won. They really should have finished bottom of their group, probably on 1 or 2 points, but they had an inspired attitude and they demonstrated technical abilities beyond that of most teams at their level.
They lost the game. That is what I meant. Not saying they absolutely will, but people are writing off England/Croatia like crazy and it could come back to haunt them.
The free kick not given to Hazard close to the 16 mtr line, while he was knocked down in full sight of the ref in the second half should have been the moment for Kevin de Bruyne to show his perfect control of the ball from that distance. This ref failure could be the decisive moment of the match.
I agree with what he said anyone can win a 1 game final once they get there. You are right about France though. Gignac hit the post, Griezman missed a sitter, and Patricio made 3 or 4 quality saves.
That's hard to say. It's very close to the goal. To get the ball over the wall and back under with any kind of pace would be a difficult task, but Belgium would have put France under more pressure at a minimum and have made things more tense. If it was a penalty claim, I'd give more weight to the decisiveness of that moment. I didn't see the play well enough to know if it was a foul or not for sure, but I think I know what the referee saw: that Hazard hopped up and that he was going backwards (nowhere) with the ball. The referee I think thought Hazard went down looking for the foul in a dangerous spot, but I don't think Hazard dove. It looked me that he was trying to oversell a legit foul.
Sorry to say but Martinez committed suicide tonight. Why the ******** getting Fellaini out of the pitch for Carrasco??? Why putting Mertens wide on the right flank? He should clearly have put Mertens as wide support of Hazard on the left, and De Bruyne as inside support of Chadli doubling the flanks, Fellaini should have stayed on the pitch and played in central role to exploit crosses. I think that even a manager coming from Cyprus 4th division would have understood that. Very sorry to see Belgium losing the chance to conquer an international honour once again. Chances are ending now for this golden and unrepeatable generation, and this is very sad.
Hazard got fouled several times and it was quite obvious but no call came. Not that France didn't deserve to win. They had more chance on goal.
Well France did not do much. I do not mean it in a bad way, they were very cautious ( a bit to much ) and let us have the ball at time but their defense was much better then I expected. The red devils were not able to take advantage of this attitude. They were solid, both team created some opportunities. As usual France squandered a little bit more of those but that was the result of a reactive and physical Belgian defense. Overall the game was much more tactical then I thought it would be. At the end, I feel France was the better team in the field ( which does not mean that they were playing much better than the reds ). The fact that they show caution means they took Belgium seriously as they should have. Had our attack been able to have just a little more speed & vivacity things would have been very different. I had a feeling of resignation, when it appeared that once they scored, Les bleu stayed cool headed and chose to protect the result. I anticipated much more febrility from this team, especially in defense. No major regrets on this one, the opponent was solid. We only have three game left in the WC. I hope we will have at least one crazy game like Argentina - France. Now that the pressure is off, we may see a more audacious team of Belgium during the third place game.
For the first 20-25 mins. France actually came out of their defense after that. Until they scored the goal. Even after that they didn't settle back on defense immediately. Yes it was a very tactical game for the most part. Specially in those first 20-25 mins.
The French football association strikes again hehe. 2014 seeding doesn’t apply to them. Ronaldo suddenly sick 1998. Ronaldo hurt in Euro 2016. They only loss Euro 2016 because a sub came on who they forgot to influence. Every time the World Cup is in Europe they seem to do better. It’s not chance. It’s also not chance Hazard did not get that free kick. The whole stadium erupted on that foul tonight/ last night. Everyone saw the foul but the ref /rollseyes If they can stop a Monaco Grand Prix to let a French man win...
Absolutely, agreed 100%. That match sticks out like a sour thumb in regards to never underestimating another team. I'd also like to add when Bayern lost to Chelsea in the Champion's league final, no one thought Chelsea would win. All it takes is for either Croatia and England to frustrate France and steal a goal. I could definitely see it, both teams are hungry and will not play open football vs France.
Belgium and France are the two best teams at this tournament, IMO. That said, this was an interesting, tactical but fairly boring game as each team was careful not to give the other much space, given all the scoring talent on the field. Belgium was lively and dangerous in the first 20 minutes and might have had goal but for a great save by the French keeper. But France settled nicely after that, stifled Belgium and had some counter-attacking opportunities. I thought it was a very even game, but France put one ball in the net, played very well defensively after the first 20 minutes and so deserved the win, though I was pulling for Belgium to get to its first WC final. I too thought the no-call on the foul on Hazard at the edge of the box late in the game was a terribly mistake by the referee and cost Belgium a good scoring opportunity. That was most definitely a foul. Two very talented teams, but fans didn't get to see a lot of it in action in this rather buttoned-up match.
I love France so I am personally happy that they made it but credit to Belgium. Considering how disappointing their last 2 euros and last world cup went, this was a great world cup for them. Their Golden Generation making it to the semis for the first time in decades despite the disadvantages and their luck either going against them or with them towards the semis is something great and that their fans should be proud of. I am looking forward to seeing them again at the next Euros~ Good job boys, stay proud of your country!
¡¡¡FRANCIA A LA FINAL !!!!! Con un gol de Umtiti Francia le gano 1-0 a Belgica. Man of the match is Samuel Umtiti segun la FIFA. pic.twitter.com/4yo1dFedsM— Gghiglione_sports (@GghiglioneS) July 11, 2018