Fortunate goal puts Les Bleus in semis
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, RUSSIA— A shot that flew directly at the hands of the opposing goalkeeper turned into a World Cup goal for Antoine Griezmann.
The France striker scored the second goal in his team’s 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Uruguay on Friday, sending a seemingly easy-to-save shot at a waiting Fernando Muslera. But the ball hit the keeper on the palms, bounced off and looped over his head and into the net.
The victory gave France a spot in the World Cup semifinals. The 1998 champions will next face Belgium on Tuesday in St. Petersburg.
Griezmann didn’t celebrate what was his third goal of the tournament.
“I was playing against a lot of friends,” said Griezmann, who is teammates with Uruguay defenders Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez at Atletico Madrid, “so I think it was normal not to celebrate.”
Raphael Varane gave France the lead with a header in the 40th minute. Griezmann sent in a free kick from the right side and Varane raced across the area. He got his head to the ball and sent it into the far corner behind Muslera.
Griezmann scored his goal, which was similar to the one scored by Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale against Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius in the Champions League final, in the 61st minute.
“We all saw that it was not a very common goal, but Muslera has been a very important pillar for all this process and through all our work on our way up to here, so I’m not going to wash my hands putting any responsibility on my players,” Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. “This is the kind of thing that I will discuss with the players in the locker room.”
France went on to reach the World Cup final the last two times it advanced to the semifinals. The French won their only World Cup in1998 on home soil and in 2006 lost to Italy on penalties.
The match at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium pitted France’s speed against Uruguay’s stubborn defence and its occasional attacking threats. But with Uru- guay striker Edinson Cavani injured and on the bench and Luis Suarez neutralized, it was France that scored the goals.
Suarez, who scored two goals in the group stage, didn’t get a single touch on the ball in France’s penalty area for the entire match. Cavani scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Portugal in the round of 16, but he sat on the bench with an injured left calf he picked up in that match.