© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
France forward Antoine Griezmann proved once again how he has become a vital cog in the team after helping his team to a second consecutive World Cup final on Wednesday with their 2-0 win over Morocco.
While it was the goals from Theo Hernandez and substitute Randal Kolo Muani that helped France but Griezmann’s play at both ends of the pitch also caught the eye. The left-footed player is yet to register a goal at this edition of the World Cup but has created chances and dropped deep to break up play. Paul Pogba even suggested on Instagram that Griezmann was playing like France’s injured all-action defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante after another all-round performance against Morocco which earned the forward the man-of-the-match award.
“I feel good in my legs, in my mind… The work I did on vacation and later with Atleti did me good, it was what I needed. I try to help the team as much as possible, as always,” Griezmann said after the game.
“Morocco impressed me tonight, they set up very well tactically and defensively. In the second half they created a lot of opportunities.
“Scoring an early goal made things easier for us as well and the second goal made it more comfortable for us. It’s a tough game that came down to small details. We’re going to try and learn from this.”
Looking ahead at the all-important game against Argentina, Griezmann said, “Any team with Messi is a different proposition. We’ve seen Argentina play, we know how they play, they’re a difficult team to play and they’re in top form.”
“They have a strong side around Messi. We know they’ll have a lot of support in the crowd. We’ll see where we can hurt them and how we can defend against them. We’ll be well prepared.
“We can make history but there is still a very long way to go, 90 minutes or more. You have to keep your feet on the ground.”
“I’m already focused on the final on Sunday. I’m trying to keep my feet on the ground, remain composed, focus on recovery and prepare for Sunday’s match.”
Macron ‘immensely proud’ that France in World Cup final
French President Emmanuel Macron said that he was ”immensely proud” after France beat Morocco 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Thursday morning.
Macron, who watched the match sitting beside FIFA president Gianni Infantino, at the Al Bayt Stadium applauded his side after the victory.
“I feel very proud of my country. I’m very happy,” Macron told reporters after the match before adding, “I want the French to enjoy this simple happiness.”
France will play Argentina in the final on Sunday.
Morocco can leave with heads held high
Morocco were forced to leave Qatar disappointed but were filled with pride at having written their names into the history books by becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals, their coach Walid Regragui said.
“We realise that we made a great achievement already,” Regragui told reporters after the game.
“We know that the media, social media, and on TV, we saw the pictures, and we saw that everyone was proud of us in our country. We’re disappointed for the Moroccan people tonight, we wanted to keep the dream alive. But we’re pleased with what we’ve achieved. We felt that we could have even gone even further but these small details help real champions, which we saw tonight, of course.”
Regragui also told his players he was proud of them. “His Majesty was also proud, the Moroccan people were proud,” he said. “I think the world as a whole is proud of this Moroccan team because we show great desire. We work hard, and we played honest, hard-working football.
“I think we’ve given a good image of Morocco and a good image of African football and that was also important for us, because we were representing our country and our continent.”
Morocco, who came into the match with the best defensive record in the tournament, conceded from France’s first serious attack five minutes into the game.
(With Reuters inputs)
