WITH 2-0 VICTORY OVER URUGUAY France reaches World Cup semis
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia--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 on Friday, 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 Tuesday 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, which was similar to the one scored by Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale against Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius in the Champions League final, in the 61st minute.
“We all saw that 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 coach Oscar Tabarez said. “This is the kind of thing that 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 on Friday, is also the godfather of Griezmann’s daughter.
“I love Uruguayan
IT made no sense at all.
From the beginning, there was nothing to fight about. Why the game has been held at all needs a review of the current format if only to guide us in our future tournaments?
Both Gilas Pilipinas and Australia have already advanced to the next round of the Fiba World Qualifiers even before the first whistle was blown in their illfated July 2 battle at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Pitting them was just a waste of money and time.
Australia had to fly here to meet Gilas. Really, millions of pesos were spent for nothing; alas and alack, the logistics went up in a cloud of useless smoke.
Instead of alloting that all-too precious money for costs of tickets, hotel bookings, food and operational expenses, would it not have mattered a lot if the moolah were diverted to finance charitable projects instead, both here and in Australia?
That way, there would have been more meaning infused abundantly to basketball diplomacy for the benefit of humankind.
In the first place, a win by either side would have amounted to nothing.
In the second place, the outcome would not have altered their positions overall.
No medal to cherish.
No advancement in rank. No nothing. If at all, it was just a TV exposure to showcase the Filipinos’ undying love for a game it could never ever dominatne on the world stage anyways.
The reason is obvious: height. But thas has been the same crazy reason we consistently refuse to accept for the longest time.
Prestige? Maybe. Beating Australia is, OK, big deal. Is it 50 rungs or so higher than us in world basketball?
But so what?