World Cup semi-final, France-Belgium: 'Red Devils' show their true colors
The French team entered the semi-final match with Belgium with the desire to return to the top after 20 years, but it was not easy knowing that the "red devils" had won all five matches up to this point.
The two latest victims of France are both from South America, the giants Argentina and Uruguay, which has increased the strength and prestige of coach Didier Deschamps and his team. Because in the opening match, French football fans were very skeptical of their team when it needed a controversial penalty and a goal near the end of the match to overcome Australia.
Few predicted that Deschamps' team would be able to make it into the top four but they have overcome the curse by eliminating two strong candidates in the knockout round.
Like his team, 19-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe has been playing better and better, making a strong impression with two goals against Argentina and the great help of his senior Griezmann. However, in the two do-or-die battles, the French team has only faced "one-man teams" like Argentina or Uruguay, who rely on Messi and Suarez, and has not faced a strong and evenly matched team like Belgium.
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| The form of Kante (France) and Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium) will greatly affect the success or failure of the first semi-final pair at the 2018 World Cup. Photo: A.BINH |
France will have to be alert and confident in the semi-final to make the Belgians show their true colours. The Belgians have lost just one of their last 17 games. However, France are more experienced and have produced some polished performances and will prove themselves once again in St Petersburg.
Meanwhile, Belgium have become one of the most feared teams on the international stage over the past few years and their 2-1 win over Brazil really put everyone on notice. Belgium's performance against the five-time world champions showed that their devastating attacking prowess has caused fear in Brazil, who have conceded just six goals in 25 games.
Belgium's trump card is still Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard alongside the black antelope Lukaku showing that he is not only a great scorer but also knows how to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. Belgium's performance in the knockout round also showed a strong spirit and great confidence as when they came from behind to eliminate Japan with a score of 3-2.
Coach Roberto Martinez regrets not having right-back Thomas Meunier in the match against France due to receiving two yellow cards, but the rest of Belgium's squad remains the same.
Colleague Deschamps appears to have made no major changes to the France squad with Matuidi returning from a one-match suspension, leaving him with a bit of a dilemma as to whether Matuidi will replace the consistently fit Corentin Tolisso on the left wing.
In the past, the two have met 73 times with Belgium winning 30 matches compared to France's 24 wins. This time, France will win!
Chelsea players of Belgium and France declare war
Belgium captain Eden Hazard has revealed that France's Kante is the best midfielder in the world. Hazard said his side would have a hard time beating France if his Chelsea teammate Kante was at his best. "I played a whole year with Kante," Hazard said. "There's no one better than him in the same position. When he's at his best, you have a 95% chance of winning. But I think Kante will have a bad game in Saint Petersburg against Belgium."
Another French player, striker Olivier Giroud, rated his captain Hugo Lloris better than his Chelsea colleague Thibaut Courtois: “Thibaut has an impressive long arm. It is difficult to beat him. Thibaut can stop the ball in any area. I have scored a few goals in Chelsea training games against Courtois and I hope to do the same against Belgium. This is a chance for the best goalkeepers of the tournament to show off. But I think the best is Lloris, sorry Courtois.”
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