France’s Pavard has been a surprise for World Cup favourites
22-year-old and fellow Frenchmen Bob Lenarduzzi’s pick to win tourney
The semifinals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia kick off on Tuesday as France faces Belgium. Both teams advanced at the expense of South American sides, leaving the World Cup an all-European affair.
I’m sorry to see the South American teams go, but history has shown that they rarely do well when the tournament is in Europe. And I definitely don’t agree with the accusations of referee bias that we heard from Diego Maradona and Radamel Falcao after England’s win over Colombia. That’s just sour grapes.
With Brazil gone, France is now the tournament favourite and my pick to go all the way. I don’t expect we’ll see much in the way of changes for France in this game, after a composed 2-0 win over Uruguay.
A French player that has caught my eye is 22-year-old right back Benjamin Pavard. He scored a stunning volley against Argentina that is candidate for goal of the tournament, and has looked very good going forward. Pavard plays for German club Stuttgart and seems to have come out of nowhere to crack the starting 11 for France. A little over a year ago he was in the German second division, and a year before that struggled to secure a starting spot at Lille.
Against Belgium, Pavard will face Eden Hazard, which is a tough assignment. When France has the ball though, Pavard may enjoy success. Hazard isn’t known for tracking back, and Belgium is light on natural leftsided defenders.
As for Belgium, it’s hard to know what to predict. Coach Roberto Martinez has been criticized for fielding players out of position, and against Brazil he made a bunch of unexpected changes that had people shaking their heads.
He switched from a 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3 formation, moving Kevin De Bruyne from midfield to centre-forward, put Romelu Lukaku on the right, and rewarded Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli for their fine play as substitutes against Japan, by plonking them in midfield, in roles that nobody could quite figure out.
Had Belgium lost, Martinez would have been crucified for squandering Belgium’s golden generation. Instead Belgium produced what may be its greatest ever win.
I think a lot of the coach’s critics have now given up criticizing, and now are just along for the ride.
This should be a very interesting match between two talent-filled neighbours. France and Belgium have a lot of history, with more than 70 meetings. Surprisingly, Belgium has the edge, with 30 wins to France’s 24. The last competitive contest was at the 1986 World Cup, where France beat Belgium 4-2 in the match for third place.
I remember that great France team well, as of course Canada and I played them at the start of the tournament.
That seems a longtime ago, but I remember it well, just as I’m sure these players will remember this game.