One bad game. It only takes one bad game.
France has the best team in the world on paper and on the pitch in the World Cup. They have been consistent and cohesive. Their front three is as good as anything I can remember. And yet, the Supermen are out, and Spain was their Kryptonite.
Spain are also a superb team, and they deserved their second favourites tag. They have a superb technical midfield that can keep the ball at will, and their defence is highly underrated. Today, they turned up and France absolutely didn't.
The theory was that this Spain team was not as good as at the Euros because Yamal and Williams (their two explosive star wingers) have been carrying injuries. Any one of the France front three would be a world 11 contender, and Spain has Mikel Oyarzabal up front. At 29, he still plays for Real Sociedad. Nobody is going to give this guy a Ballon d'Or, and there must be fifty strikers in the world of higher value. However, in front of a talented Spain midfield, he just has to do his job, and he did his job, scoring the crucial penalty. Dembelle, Mbappe and Olise were MIA. All played badly, even with the few scraps that the outplayed France midfield could give them.
One of the unspoken beauties of the World Cup is that the favourites don't always win. For presumed champions to lose, it takes a strong opponent and one bad game. This is a knockout contest where there is no next week.
Congrats to Spain.
Spain are also a superb team, and they deserved their second favourites tag. They have a superb technical midfield that can keep the ball at will, and their defence is highly underrated. Today, they turned up and France absolutely didn't.
The theory was that this Spain team was not as good as at the Euros because Yamal and Williams (their two explosive star wingers) have been carrying injuries. Any one of the France front three would be a world 11 contender, and Spain has Mikel Oyarzabal up front. At 29, he still plays for Real Sociedad. Nobody is going to give this guy a Ballon d'Or, and there must be fifty strikers in the world of higher value. However, in front of a talented Spain midfield, he just has to do his job, and he did his job, scoring the crucial penalty. Dembelle, Mbappe and Olise were MIA. All played badly, even with the few scraps that the outplayed France midfield could give them.
One of the unspoken beauties of the World Cup is that the favourites don't always win. For presumed champions to lose, it takes a strong opponent and one bad game. This is a knockout contest where there is no next week.
Congrats to Spain.
41-45, M
