Defence holds key for France

breached, captain Hugo Lloris has come up with big saves against Uruguay and Belgium. Deschamps’ cautious approach does not win admirers from all quarters.

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois declared the result “a shame for football”.

But the success of reaching the World Cup final after also playing in the Euro 2016 final is hard to argue with.

As France look to make amends for losing to Portugal on home soil two years ago, the presence of Varane could make the difference.

Fresh from winning his fourth Champions League title at just 25 with Real Madrid, Varane missed the Euros two years ago due to a thigh injury. Rivals at club level, he and Barcelona’s Umtiti have formed a strong partnership with a combination of aerial power and speed across the ground. “As in 2016, the dynamic within the team is very good, but the team is more mature. There is more experience,” said Varane. Umtiti was drafted in for his international debut to cover for Varane two years ago, and is determined not to suffer another disappointment in a final. “I’m not a lucky charm,” he said. “We did not win the final at the Euros – that’s why it’s important for me to reach the World Cup final. I hope i t will be different and we can bring it back to France.”

Either side of Varane and Umtiti, Deschamps’ decision to use 22- year- old converted centrebacks Hernandez and Pavard instead of Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe for their better defensive qualities has been thoroughly justified.

Deschamps’ France may not enthral like the World Cupwinning side of 1998 he captained, but they will be hard to beat for Croatia come Moscow on Sunday. – AFP

SEXISM has been a bigger problem than racism at the World Cup in Russia, with more than 30 cases reported, Piara Powar, executive director of the Fare network, said yesterday. Powar said at a news conference on diversity and anti-discrimination that around half of these cases involved female World Cup reporters. “There is evidence of around 30 incidents, concerning Russian women and about 15 female reporters,” Powar said. THEY

France’s Raphael Varane (left) and Belgium’s Eden Hazard vie for the ball during their Russia 2018 World Cup semifinal match at the Saint Petersburg Stadium on Wednesday. –

said he was over the hill, not the force he was. And minutes earlier he had been clattered by Jordan Pickford as the England keeper courageously thwarted him. But when a second chance came, Mario Mandzukic, still sore from that collision, pounced like...