FORMER BARCA BOSS ENRIQUE NEW SPAIN COACH
: Former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was appointed Spain’s new coach on Monday after previous incumbent Julen Lopetegui was sacked on the eve of the World Cup. “Luis Enrique’s appointment as coach for the next two years was approved unanimously,” Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish football federation, told reporters. Enrique, 48, will replace Lopetegui, who was fired by Rubiales when the coach announced he had would coach Real Madrid. Spain’s then sporting director Fernando Hierro stepped in to replace him.
Both France and Belgium faced pretty much the same question in the build-up to the World Cup – can a team with great individual talent come good collectively and deliver the goods at the biggest stage?
Having knocked out the two remaining South American teams in their respective quarterfinals, the European neighbours have come a long way in emphatically answering that question. Who has done that better will be known when they clash in the semi-final at the Krestovsky Stadium on Tuesday.
There have been times when they have looked less than convincing, but France and Belgium are both peaking at the right time. France topped their group after scraping past Australia and Peru 2-1 and 1-0 respectively and then playing out a goalless draw with Denmark.
They then hit top gear – at least the attack did – in a 4-3 thriller with Argentina in the Round of 16. Against Uruguay, they didn’t replicate the performance going forward, but they compensated with a composed showing defensively, securing a 2-0 win.
Against a Belgium side boasting of one of the best set of forwards, France will need a performance even better than their last one where they kept the Uruguayan attack in check.
Blaise Matuidi’s return after serving a one-match suspension will boost France. The Juventus midfielder is likely to partner N’Golo Kante in central midfield with Paul Pogba playing in front of them. Matuidi’s inclusion is expected to be the only change to Didier Deschamps’s side.
He and Kante will be locked in a battle with Belgium’s Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard, and the outcome of these individual battles could shape the result.
The attacking French trio of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud has grown with every game and Deschamps is unlikely to tinker with that formation.
It is the ability of Belgium to quickly transfer from defence to attack that France will be most
MADRID SAINTPETERSBURG: