France 4, Argentina 3 - What an exciting game!
It was a back and forth affair between these two sides, and in the end, France came from behind to just nose out Argentina to survive the first elimination round game.
Now, they have to begin to prepare for the showdown with the other side to win yesterday, Uruguay. But that is in the future.
For now, France should feel satisfied that they held off a dangerous Argentinian side with Lionel Messi, who never quite looked the part of the superstar capable of carrying his team on his shoulders, as many felt he could.
Antoin Griezmann opened the scoring in this game by converting a penalty kick in the 13th minute for a 1-0 lead for France.
Just before the half, however, Argentina's Ángel Di María scored in the 41st to make sure the game was tied up at 1-1.
Then, Argentina opened up the scoring in the second half when Gabriel Mercado scored in the 48th minute to give the Argentinian side a 2-1 lead.
But that was when France fully came to life. It began with Benjamin Pavard scoring in the 57th minute to tie the game back up, 2-2. Then, France's newest rising star rose to the occasion, as Kylian Mbappé scored in the 64th and then followed that up with another goal in the 68th minute. Suddenly, France had a decisive advantage fairly late in the game.
Argentina tried desperately to get a goal and make things tight again. France, however, was able to prevent this and milk the clock, so that it went to extra time. Argentina's Sergio Agüero did score to pull Argentina within one goal of tying it in the 3rd minute of extra time, to make the score 4-3. Argentina pressed. However, France was able to hang on for the win nevertheless, as they now advance to the quarterfinal for the second straight World Cup.
This was the first time since 1986 that a team scored three goals in a World Cup game and still lost. Back then, it was the Soviet Union who lost to Belgium, 4-3. It was the fifth time in Argentina's history at the World Cup that they have given up four or more goals, and the first time since a 4-0 loss to Germany in 2010.
Uruguay 2, Portugal 1 - This was another result that I found a bit surprising.
Not that Uruguay are not a solid team. Clearly, they are. However, Portugal was just coming off a huge success in winning the Euro tournament two years ago. This could be Cristiano Ronaldo's last international tournament for Portugal, and surely they wanted to send him off in a better way. But Portugal never really seemed to fully get going in this tournament.
Uruguay's Edinson Cavani opened the scoring early, giving his side a lead when he scored the game's first goal in the 7th minute.
Pepe tied it for Portugal in the 55th minute.
But ultimately, Cavani came up with more heroics for Uruguay, scoring again in the 62nd minute to give Uruguay the 2-1 lead that they were able to hold onto to clinch the victory and advance to the quarterfinal. It was Uruguay's only shot on goal in the entire second half, but they obviously made it count. Despite Portugal having an incredible possession time advantage of 70 percent, Uruguay just was able to capitalize more on the opportunities that they did get, so that they made it worth something, obviously.
This is the first time that Uruguay opened a World Cup tournament with four straight wins since way back in 1930, for the first ever World Cup tournament.
Portugal, meanwhile, suffered their fourth straight elimination round defeat, dating back to a meeting with England in the 2006 World Cup.
It was a back and forth affair between these two sides, and in the end, France came from behind to just nose out Argentina to survive the first elimination round game.
Now, they have to begin to prepare for the showdown with the other side to win yesterday, Uruguay. But that is in the future.
For now, France should feel satisfied that they held off a dangerous Argentinian side with Lionel Messi, who never quite looked the part of the superstar capable of carrying his team on his shoulders, as many felt he could.
Antoin Griezmann opened the scoring in this game by converting a penalty kick in the 13th minute for a 1-0 lead for France.
Just before the half, however, Argentina's Ángel Di María scored in the 41st to make sure the game was tied up at 1-1.
Then, Argentina opened up the scoring in the second half when Gabriel Mercado scored in the 48th minute to give the Argentinian side a 2-1 lead.
But that was when France fully came to life. It began with Benjamin Pavard scoring in the 57th minute to tie the game back up, 2-2. Then, France's newest rising star rose to the occasion, as Kylian Mbappé scored in the 64th and then followed that up with another goal in the 68th minute. Suddenly, France had a decisive advantage fairly late in the game.
Argentina tried desperately to get a goal and make things tight again. France, however, was able to prevent this and milk the clock, so that it went to extra time. Argentina's Sergio Agüero did score to pull Argentina within one goal of tying it in the 3rd minute of extra time, to make the score 4-3. Argentina pressed. However, France was able to hang on for the win nevertheless, as they now advance to the quarterfinal for the second straight World Cup.
This was the first time since 1986 that a team scored three goals in a World Cup game and still lost. Back then, it was the Soviet Union who lost to Belgium, 4-3. It was the fifth time in Argentina's history at the World Cup that they have given up four or more goals, and the first time since a 4-0 loss to Germany in 2010.
Uruguay 2, Portugal 1 - This was another result that I found a bit surprising.
Not that Uruguay are not a solid team. Clearly, they are. However, Portugal was just coming off a huge success in winning the Euro tournament two years ago. This could be Cristiano Ronaldo's last international tournament for Portugal, and surely they wanted to send him off in a better way. But Portugal never really seemed to fully get going in this tournament.
Uruguay's Edinson Cavani opened the scoring early, giving his side a lead when he scored the game's first goal in the 7th minute.
Pepe tied it for Portugal in the 55th minute.
But ultimately, Cavani came up with more heroics for Uruguay, scoring again in the 62nd minute to give Uruguay the 2-1 lead that they were able to hold onto to clinch the victory and advance to the quarterfinal. It was Uruguay's only shot on goal in the entire second half, but they obviously made it count. Despite Portugal having an incredible possession time advantage of 70 percent, Uruguay just was able to capitalize more on the opportunities that they did get, so that they made it worth something, obviously.
This is the first time that Uruguay opened a World Cup tournament with four straight wins since way back in 1930, for the first ever World Cup tournament.
Portugal, meanwhile, suffered their fourth straight elimination round defeat, dating back to a meeting with England in the 2006 World Cup.
I'm not sure if you watched the France-Argentina game or not but it was a nerve-wracking one. I was of course happy when Les Bleus took the lead, than aggravated that they allowed Argentina to tie things up right before the half, and even more so when Argentina took a 2-1 lead, perhaps around 10 minutes into the second half if memory serves. I have to admit that at that point my initial optimism prior to the game was severely tested. But then something beautiful happened: Les Bleus started to live up to the hype and expectations, very much looking the part of a potential champion. 19-year old phenom Kylian Mbappé in particular showed that he's truly coming into his own as one of France's biggest scoring threats, on a team that boasts a number of them (Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Paul Pogba...). France got its first ever win against the Albiceleste at a World Cup, having lost the previous two meetings in 1930 and 1978. (Of course, France can be forgiven for losing the latter – they were in a "group of death" that featured hosts (and eventual champions) Argentina, and Italy. To answer your question from your previous post – and I felt this way before the game started – yes, France should absolutely be confident in all games, regardless of the quality of the opponent. Not overconfident, mind you, which is never a good thing. But confident. France has a great team which, when running on all cylinders, probably has at least a 50% chance of beating any team you care to name. Respect the opponent, yes, fear the opponent, no. If they were to go into a match thinking "What if we're not good enough, what if we don't have what it takes", it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think Didier Deschamps probably does a better job than he's given credit for in terms of ensuring everyone has the right attitude. There's nothing wrong with a little swagger, as long as it doesn't spill over into "We can't lose" territory, because then of course they'd practically be begging fate to violently reintroduce them to reality. But I don't think that's going to happen – I have a good feeling about this team, and like their chances, even if some steep competition obviously remains. Allez les Bleus!!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, and well said.
ReplyDelete