oui ARE in THE FINAL!
England will face France IF they win tonight
SAMUEL UMTITI headed Les Bleus into the World Cup Final – and now aims to emulate the France heroes of 1998.
The Barcelona defender snatched the only goal of a tight contest with a 51st-minute header from an Antoine Griezmann corner. And it left former France star and 1998 World Cup winner Thierry Henry (right) – Belgium boss Roberto Martinez’s No.2 – devastated, too. France manager Didier Deschamps is now looking to lay the ghost of their Euro 2016 Final defeat by Portugal to rest. He said: “Finals have to be won because we have still
IF football really is on its way home, let’s hope it hasn’t stopped off here to be seduced by Didier Deschamps and his France team.
This was no chess match. No anticlimactic nonsense. There were no buses parked. At the business end of a World Cup, this was a cracker.
Samuel Umtiti’s 51st- minute header means it is Belgium who go home to lick their wounds but the real losers were the ones who missed out. The ones who will have to catch the highlights or search Youtube for the magnificent Kylian Mbappe’s edgeof-your-seat skill
Off the pitch the sub-plot was Thierry Henry on the Belgium staff plotting the downfall of the country he helped lift the World Cup 20 years ago.
On the pitch you simply couldn’t keep your eyes off the many minibattles as both sides fought for supremacy. Mbappe against Jan Vertonghen, playing at left-back to try to snuff out the French kid’s outrageous talent. N’golo Kante versus Kevin De Bruyne, Raphael Varane against Romelu Lukaku, and Eden Hazard against three players at any one time. France’s impressive wins against Argentina and Uruguay had made them favourites. Belgium didn’t care. Roberto
Martinez’s side boasted nine different scorers going into this game, Marouane Fellaini (left) among them.
They’d seen off Brazil and shown character to come back from the dead against Japan. From the outset here they showed they would not be intimidated.
Five minutes in, Hazard shot wide from De Bruyne’s deft pass.
In the 18th minute Varane was lucky to get a vital block on Hazard’s curling effort. Three minutes later Hugo Lloris pulled off a fantastic save to parry Toby Alderweireld’s shot from the edge of the box.
France, up against it, had to respond. And they did. Olivier Giroud missed with a header in the 30th minute. Antoine Griezmann then sent Mbappe in behind Vertonghen to cross for Giroud again but the Chelsea star shot wide.
France should really have taken the lead six minutes before the break but right-back Benjamin Pavard shot when Griezmann would have had an open goal.
It was on the other side of the break that Deschamps’ men made their pressure count. Giroud had a shot deflected wide and Umtiti headed in from the resulting corner.
Belgium threw everything forward in search of a response but the French were just too well-drilled. If anything they could have scored more goals with a more potent forward than Giroud. You get the impression they haven’t even reached top gear yet. They will take some stopping in Sunday’s final.