Like ABs of old
Yet another World Cup setback for the Selecao
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 yesterday, 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 Wednesday 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, similar to the one netted by Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale against Liverpool keeper Loris Karius in the Champions League final, in the 61st minute.
“We all saw 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 manager Oscar Tabarez said. “This is the kind of thing I will discuss with the players in the locker room.”
Griezmann is a Frenchman who plays professionally in Spain but he has a special fondness for Uruguay. He likes the traditional South American drink mate, he speaks Spanish like someone from the South American country and he’s been pictured wearing the team’s jersey.
Godin, who was playing for Uruguay yesterday, is the godfather of Griezmann’s daughter.
“I love Uruguayan culture and I love Uruguayans, so I have a lot of respect for them,” Griezmann said.
France went on to reach the World Cup final the last two times they made the semifinals. They won their only World Cup in 1998 on home soil and lost to Italy on penalties in 2006.
The match at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium pitted France’s speed against Uruguay’s stubborn defence and occasional attacking threats. But with Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani injured and Luis Suarez neutralised, France scored the goals.
Suarez, who scored twice in the group stage, didn’t get a single touch on the ball in France’s penalty area the entire match.
Four minutes after Varane gave France the lead, Uruguay nearly equalised. France keeper Hugo Lloris dived to his right and got a hand on a header from Martin Caceres, pushing it just wide of the goal.
“Lloris had a great save,” France manager Didier Deschamps said. “Apart from that, they didn’t have many great opportunities.”
Although he didn’t score, France forward Kylian Mbappe again looked dangerous. The 19-year-old, who has modelled his game after Cristiano Ronaldo and is being compared with Zinedine Zidane, also picked up a second-half yellow card for falling to the ground as if in agony after a touch from an opponent.
Heading into the match, Uruguay were unbeaten in 2018 and Muslera had the best save percentage of any goalkeeper at the tournament who had played more than one match. He had 11 saves and had allowed only one goal in four matches in Russia.
A country of only 3.5 million, Uruguay won the World Cup in 1930 and 1950 and then waned. But they have undergone a revival in the past 12 years under 71-year-old Tabarez, a former teacher.
“It seems that the four games we won before this one are worth nothing but that’s not true,” Tabarez said. “[Yesterday] we played against opponents that were stronger than we were.”