BHARGAB SARMAH

NIZHNYNOVGOROD: France underlined their title ambitions on a windy evening here easing past Uruguay 2-0 through goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

Didier Deschamps’ men needed a glancing header from a set-piece and a goalkeeping error from Fernando Muslera to help them book a berth in the first semi-final in Saint Petersburg next week, where they will now face either Brazil or Belgium.

Even though they were without Edinson Cavani, Uruguay started brightly. In the fourth minute, a cross from the left by Diego Laxalt evaded every player in the box and had the French backline struggling to clear the ball. Then, Cristhian Stuani shot across the goalmouth from a tight angle and had Hugo Lloris in the French goal diving to his right. It, however, harmlessly went wide.

France struggled to impose themselves on the game despite enjoying a greater share of the ball. Their first major chance came in the 15th minute when Uruguay failed to clear a cross. The ball fell to Kylian Mbappe but his weak header was off target.

Uruguay’s compact formation was starting to frustrate France. Mbappe, Argentina’s tormentor, hardly had a sniff after his early chance with Laxalt reining him in. Neither was Paul Pogba, Corentin Tolisso or N’golo Kante managing to control the midfield. At the other end, Uruguay came near but not near enough.

In the 39th minute, Rodrigo Bentancur fouled Corentin Tolisso on France’s right flank. The 1998 world champions hadn’t managed an attempt on target yet but with chances coming at a premium, Antoine Griezmann floated a dangerous delivery into the box. Varane made a clever run and timed his jump and flick with such precision that Muslera could do little. Having managed to hold on a final wave of Uruguayan pressure, France went in 1-0 at half-time.

The second half started with France finally taking charge. Unlike the first 45 minutes, the