VS
France
It’s has been the expected progress for
Deschamps’ team, that arrives in Paris to the quarter-finals to face Iceland,
and not England as expected. The biggest surprise of the last-16 gives France a
very different challenge from what they planned for, and it’s a challenge very
similar to all the games that they had in the group stage and against Ireland.
The French have been a but underwhelming in
the quality of their performances, but they did end up with the wins they
needed, with Antoine Griezmann and Payet being the headlines, as Pogba has been
out of form. France has been having trouble in the creativity part of the game,
and their defense hasn’t been, really, tested. And they will have another
problem, with the suspension of Rami.
Iceland
If you
want an Iceland shirt you’re going to have to wait in line. As they have been
making the world dream with their fabulous story, a very small country, the
size of the city of Leicester is, perhaps inspired by the feat of that city’s
football club, achieving much more they ever expected in the competition.
After a group stage where they were able to
endure the pressure from the opponents and grab a win and two draws, they got
second place and would face England, in a game where they were expected to
fight bravely but, in the end, lose to the bigger talent of the English squad. Instead,
they reacted fantastically to going down in the score line, turned the game
around, and then showed us how a good defensive organization can still win
games. Iceland keeps on dreaming, and we dream with them.
The game
It’s hard to
say how pleased is Deschamps with the result of the last game of the Last-16
round. It’s a matter of fact that, clearly, Iceland is a less talented group of
players, that are not used to being in the situation they find themselves at
the moment. It’s an historic period of Icelandic football, in their first ever
tournament they are still undefeated, and got a brilliant win over England, a
match that will probably go down as one of the biggest humiliations of the
Three Lions history. Lagerback’s pupils showed us what determination, team
spirit, and, most of all, a plan, can do in a football pitch.
France knows they are the favorites, and know that a win is what is expected of them, but Iceland has proved they believe in themselves and they want to keep writing history. That should not be enough, as France is on a mission to repeat 1998. It’s going to be a very tough match though, where France’s inability to break organized defenses might come to life again.
France knows they are the favorites, and know that a win is what is expected of them, but Iceland has proved they believe in themselves and they want to keep writing history. That should not be enough, as France is on a mission to repeat 1998. It’s going to be a very tough match though, where France’s inability to break organized defenses might come to life again.
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