Once again, Spain acquired France’s jersey number. I’m dialing in the World Cup finals now.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Spain national team coach Luis de la Fuente’s message to his team was simple.
La Roja was to play in France against one of the best teams in the world. However, coach de la Fuente told his team that Spain was: of the best team.
“That’s the key, we’re a team,” de la Fuente said. “And when you play a team like us, we are unbeatable.”
It’s hard to argue with him.
For the last three summers in a row, Spain have made Kylian Mbappé and France look dangerous, and no victory has been bigger than this one. With an emphatic 2-0 victory over Les Bleus, Spain will be playing in a World Cup final for the first time since 2010, when La Roja won their only championship.
Spain will face either England or Argentina in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
This is not luck. It’s not like France had a bad day, as they were the class of the tournament.
This was Spain ruthlessly dismantling France, clogging the midfield so Mbappé had nowhere to roam, blocking any signs of attack, finding holes in France’s defence, and turning them into huge rifts. This is Spain fielding perhaps the second strongest team in the world, knocking them off the mountain every time they approach the top.
“We knew it would be the most difficult game. They have great players, but I think we have them too,” Pau Kvarsi said.
Spain controlled the whole match
France’s play wasn’t bad. Spain will never forgive blues It will be comfortable. Apart from a few possessions here and there, Spain dictated the pace and rhythm of this match and France could do nothing about it.
France had their first shot on goal in the 81st minute. you read that correctly. none. zero. Zip. The team, which averaged nearly three goals per game and entered the semifinals with a surging offensive force, was unable to even get a shot off. Mbappe, who leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals, could have been playing in a straitjacket.
“They closed off all the spaces, and they also made some technical mistakes,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It’s hard to cause problems when the skill level is sub-par, especially compared to previous games.”
Spain, on the other hand, took advantage of the opportunity.
in the 20’sthLucas Digne was careless while trying to clear the ball and hit Lamine Yamal in the thigh as he tried to clear the goal. That’s a textbook penalty.
Mike Menyan guessed correctly and dove to left. But it was just a little too late. Mikel Oyarzabal’s kick landed just above the outstretched hand, giving Spain a 1-0 lead. That was enough, but Pedro Polo doubled the score in the 58th minute.th Just in case.
“We don’t want to take away or throw away everything we’ve done,” Deschamps said. “We should have been more dangerous on the pitch and made the game more difficult for the Spanish team.”
Or maybe Spain is just better.
It will be difficult to beat a team that won the 2018 World Cup, reached the final four years later, and reached the semifinals of this tournament. It’s difficult to criticize a great player like Mbappé. He can (usually) create goals out of nothing. Most countries would sell their souls to acquire a player of this caliber and Mbappé.
However, it cannot be ignored that at the same time that Yamal and Spain began to rise, France’s trajectory stalled.
France was in the class of the tournament.
Perhaps we should have foreseen this coming. First at the 2024 European Championship, and then again in last summer’s Nations League, where Spain sent France home in the semi-finals. Neither match was a big deal.
Yeah, last summer’s 5-4 score was a success. look Competitiveness. Except, as Yamal reminded everyone a few hours before this semi-final, Spain had beaten France 5-1 through 75 minutes.
Deschamps said the day before the match: “There is no revenge. The past is the past.” “Yes, sure they won two games, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game.”
And indeed, if France was going to change its narrative against Spain, now was the time. Spain struggled in their opening game, drawing with Cape Verde. A late goal was needed to oust troublesome Berigum in the quarter-finals.
France, on the other hand, was not tested at this tournament. The team had not conceded a goal since the final round of the group stage, and it took 358 minutes for Oyarzabal to convert the penalty spot.
But the standard by which France is measured is Spain. Once again, Spain was unable to demonstrate the capabilities of Les Bleus.
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