It took until their 66th shot and the 84th minute and 36th second of their fourth game but France at last scored a goal from open play at these Euros. Or maybe they didn’t? When at last it came, Randal Kolo Muani’s late strike was scuffed and needed a deflection off a defender’s knee to beat Mike Maignan, the winner in Düsseldorf another one that might ultimately not go down as a goal of their own, awarded to poor Jan Vertongen instead. Either way, it was enough to take them through to a 1-0 win over Belgium. And that, it is tempting to conclude, is the perfect portrait of this team.
The tournament favourites, blessed of the kind of talent others can only dream of and the world’s best player, a footballer capable of scoring five World Cup final goals, France have just three goals: a penalty, and one or perhaps two scored for them by opponents. And yet there they are in the quarter final, still standing, and you would not bet against them going further. This was not always very good, and the winner felt like a pretty appropriate way to win it, but it is hard to avoid the feeling that, somehow, this is by design. That, somehow, it is all under control.
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jul/01/france-belgium-euro-2024-last-16-match-report
Author : Sid Lowe at Düsseldorf Arena
Publish date : 2024-07-01 18:28:43
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