Cautious France eye final
World Cup favourites France are targeting the final in Russia two decades after their 1998 triumph with one of their greatest players, Thierry Henry, plotting their downfall from the dugout of opponents Belgium.
The European neighbours meet in Tuesday's first semifinal in Saint Petersburg for the right to play England or Croatia in Sunday’s showpiece in Moscow.
Former Arsenal and Barcelona forward Henry, who was part of the squad that won the World Cup on home soil 20 years ago, is now alongside Belgium coach Roberto Martinez and eyeing the chinks in France’s armour.
“It will be bizarre to have him up against us,” France striker Olivier Giroud said.
“He is a living legend of French football.
“But we're not thinking about it too much, we're going to be focused on the pitch and our game.”
A slick Belgium side boasting the talents of Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku are the only team to have won all their matches in Russia and are the top scorers, with 14 goals.
Confidence is sky-high after they ousted Neymar’s Brazil in the quarterfinals but they will come up against formidable opponents in France as they try to reach a first-ever World Cup final.
Didier Deschamp’s side, with Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe up front, struggled for goals in their group matches but have now hit their stride, dominating Uruguay after beating Argentina.
France will start the semifinal in Saint Petersburg as favourites, with an impressive mix of youth and experience allied to tournament nous after reaching the Euro 2016 final.
With Hugo Lloris impressing in goal and a solid midfield of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, the one potential weakness for France could be their inexperienced defence.
Belgium’s Thomas Meunier will miss the game after picking up a second yellow card but France will be buoyed by the return of defensive midfielder Blaise Matuidi, after also sitting out a suspension.
For the fifth time in World Cup history, the semifinals will be an all-European affair.
In the other last-four clash on Wednesday, England take on Croatia in Moscow.
England boss Gareth Southgate has told his players they can be bigger heroes even than the generation of 1966, which featured Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton.
“I’ve met quite a few of those players and we know exactly how they’re held and perhaps, in the modern era, that would be even crazier,” Southgate told British newspapers.
“[With] social media and everything else, the global thing is so much bigger.”
Captain Harry Kane is the man leading England’s charge in Russia with six goals so far, putting him top in the race for the Golden Boot.
Lukaku is on four goals and France’s Griezmann and Mbappe have three each.
But Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has identified Raheem Sterling as England’s danger man in their semifinal. “He is fast and dangerous alongside Harry Kane,” Dalic said.
Croatia, who boast Real Madrid's Luka Modric and Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic in a strong midfield, emerged through extra-time and spotkicks against Denmark before going through the same ordeal again against Russia in Saturday’s quarterfinal.
“Our last three games we played teams with a defensive approach,” Dalic said.
“But we are looking forward to a different style of game against England because they like to play attacking football.”