A game of fine margins leaves the Three Lions so near, yet so far again
England box clever but clinical Giroud lands the most crippling of blows
IN the end it was half a yard that made the difference. That was the jump that Olivier Giroud got on Harry Maguire to meet Antoine Griezmann’s cross and send England home from this World Cup.
The header even took a nudge off Maguire’s shoulder as it thundered past Jordan Pickford. That was how close the contest for the ball was and it mirrored this game perfectly. England were France’s equal in every department apart from inside the respective penalty areas. France took their chances and England didn’t.
There had been so much talk before the game about whether England would cope with the flyer Kylian Mbappe. But it was Giroud and Griezmann who troubled Gareth Southgate’s defence and it was fitting that it was their combination that won this gripping quarter-final.
No blame can be attached to England or indeed their four man defence. They were beaten narrowly by the defending champions and as such it is a dignified exit.
Indeed it says everything for the manner in which England had progressed through the tournament that it felt perfectly natural for Southgate to stay true to the system and formation that he happened upon before his team played Wales in their third group stage match.
To see Southgate play a flat back four against an elite side was uplifting but not the least bit surprising at the same time. Had anyone predicted this before the World Cup began, few would have agreed.
Maguire and John Stones were once again the preferred partnership on a night when they were going to have to step up a level against a French attack that has been missing the injured Karim Benzema since before the tournament began but was nevertheless as fluid and dangerous as any in the competition.
It was a night to test the English defensive pair’s concentration as much as anything. Giroud was the French central striker but the 36-year-old spends so much time coming deep to offer himself to the ball that central defenders can often find themselves with nobody to mark.
That was how it was here for long periods. Despite all the talk about the rare gifts and the speed of France’s left-sided forward Mbappe, the most dangerous player in blue was Griezmann.
Attacking from deeper and finding the angles to link play, Griezmann was winning his 72nd consecutive cap and his value to his team was abundantly clear from the outset.
Playing nominally off the right side of the midfield, Griezmann had licence to drift infield in search of the ball and he was by far the most effective player on the field.
Maguire and Stones were alert to the danger for the most part. It was a case of switching on at the right moment. Maguire stepped out to make an important tackle on Griezmann early on and was able to turn English defence into attack with a sharp forward ball.
In no way the most gifted player in possession of the ball, Maguire nevertheless does have the courage to try and see a pass. He was off his game in his area when England endured a tricky opening half-hour against Senegal in the last round six days earlier but that didn’t seem to have hampered his confidence greatly.
France never dominated England territorially. England had large swathes of possession. But it was the sharp and incisive nature of the world champions’ counter attacks that troubled Southgate’s team.
Mbappe was a lurking menace for the most part, marshalled well on the whole by Kyle Walker and whichever midfield player happened to be closest to help out. The PSG sprinter did have one big chance in the first half, however, as he struck a shot over the bar when the England defence fell asleep at a short free-kick.
But this was a game that England seemed to have under control for
long periods and that was never more apparent than once they had equalised early in the second half. When the winning goal arrived it was largely against the run of the play.
Mbappe did leave Walker in his wake on one occasion shortly after Harry Kane’s penalty and England were fortunate there was no one able to control and convert his low cross. On the whole, though, the England central defenders were able to cope comfortably with most that came at them from deeper French positions. In the end it took just one moment of quality to settle this game.