For its first big test in this World Cup, the French team won against England (2-1), Saturday, in the quarter-finals, not without suffering. She will play her place in the final against Morocco, Wednesday.
by Alexandre Pedro (al-Khor (Qatar), Special Envoy)
This is their fault too. Why did they, football legislators, did so unpredictable and sometimes unfair? Why do the best do not always win at the end? Good question. If we had been able, we would have liked to pose it to Declan Rice. “In my opinion, the best team lost this evening,” said the middle of a battered and slaughtered England team. The merit, in football, is a vast debate and mainly interests the loser. The winner has the result for him, and that’s all that interests him.
But basically, these Blues had the merit of beating (2-1) and falling from this World Cup in Qatar of the English perhaps better than them, this Saturday, December 10. And it is not a question of trivializing performance. At 35, Hugo Lloris is old enough to have looked at the Worlds without French presence (1990 and 1994), and measures the value of a qualification in the semi-finals. “It’s never trivial,” said the captain at the 143 selections – record of Lilian Thuram beaten. Yes, tricolor football has experienced too many lean cows to pin up and refuse to see the value of this team.
In a stadium of al-Bayt built at the gates of the desert and whose lines evoke a giant tent symbolizing the attachment of the Qataris for their nomadic roots, the Blues continued to trace this path started by doubt the suitcases Before the start of this tournament, between the packages and the bad results of the year. In this quarter -final, the players of Didier Deschamps have not mastered everything and crossed some turbulence. Until the end with this free kick by Marcus Rashford, not far from sending all these little people in overtime.
Some can speak of a small miracle, the chance of the champion or the return of the famous “Pussy to Dédé”, a lost time in the streets of Bucharest after the early elimination against Switzerland during the last euro, In June 2021. The evening winners prefer to see other virtues, that of a team that folds but never breaks. And often ends up putting a bad bamboo to his opponent. “It is our ability to resilient it, to suffer all together [which made the difference]. Of course, we suffered at times. We never gave up. There is this unity, this solidarity between us from the start “Summarizes midfielder Adrien Rabiot.
Giroud absent then decisive
A few minutes later, Hugo Lloris advanced in turn in the mixed zone the features drawn, the nervous fatigue still palpable, to evoke “a great battle” and still boast the solidarity of his own, “strong in the storm “. He, the first. The Tottenham goalkeeper knows the British press enough not to take too personally the fact that she presents him as the weak point of his team. His six judgments are enough for him as an answer. “We were solid in the important moments of the match, we hurt them when it was necessary,” said the Niçois.
You have 56.77% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.