From our special correspondent in Turin,
9:30 p.m., approximate time, in the press gallery at Juventus Stadium. The German referee from France-Belgium sends the two teams back to the locker room. Stunned by goals from Carrasco and Lukaku, the Blues are logically led 2-0. A worried colleague comes down to see us: he has booked a hotel room in Milan for the weekend, while the small final is also being played in Turin. The question is no longer whether France will lose but on what score. “Doesn’t it smell like broth?” “
To be completely honest, it did smell bad. The way in which the Belgians finished the first half, crossing us like butter thanks to their infernal trio while ours was baying with crows, did not suggest anything good. Didier Deschamps spoke the truth in a post-victory press conference. “Apart from me, few people thought we could overturn this game. And that’s all that mattered.
Deschamps believed it
Everything starts from the faith of the French coach. When we began to write the account of the defeat and anticipated a major crisis for DD on the bench of the France team, the latter only thought of the words that would revive his players at half-time. No need to be a little mouse to know what he said to himself at the break, Antoine Griezmann was responsible for serving an extract of the talk to colleagues at TF1. “At half-time, Didier told us that we had to go get them, that if we scored a goal that would change the game, and that’s what happened. “
To quibble, we will remember that the magic did not operate immediately. Pogba defeated a ball lost full axis by De Bruyne by hitting ten meters from Courtois’ goal when there was better to do, Lukaku gave himself an opportunity on target a minute later. In short, we were off again for a ride on the merry-go-round. And then the three in front got fed up. “There was this reaction, this pride, Deschamps analyzes, starting with our three offensive players who constantly harassed the opponent and reversed the situation. Suddenly, the defensive line goes up 20-30 meters. The Belgians, comfortably installed in their armchairs in the first half, begin to return the ball a little too easily. Hugo Lloris, passing through the mixed zone:
“We were able to hamper the opponent by movement, by effort. We knew how to create spaces, with the speed of Kylian, the accuracy of Karim and Antoine… It is also a success of the system, the energy and the animation that we put into it. “
Talented, too. The goal of 2-1 is the sum of two individual high class actions. The first, of Kylian Mbappé to get rid of his opposite and serve Benzema. The second, from KB19, to resist the defense while seeking to turn around to adjust Courtois in imbalance.
Belgium “too emotional”
At this point in the match, Belgium has not yet completely sunk. We remember applauding the intelligence of De Bruyne when he decided to put the game down to break the rhythm that the French were trying to impose. But the Red Devils ended up falling into the trap and indulging in the irrational by responding to speed with speed. Spaces open up, lucidity is lost. Tielemans shoots Griezmann’s foot in the box, VAR, penalty, goal. Roberto Martinez knows it, his team has had their brains eaten. “In the second half, we may have been too emotional, we may have thought too quickly about the final instead of focusing on actions. We could have avoided some problems, we should have come back in second as we had played in the first half. “
Let us not forget, in the writing of history, to recall that the match all the same failed to switch several times in favor of the world numbers 1. It was played at a glove from Lloris on De Bruyne’s mine in the 70th and half a hair on the goal denied to Lukaku ten minutes later. “It was an open match like a boxing fight that could have changed from one side to the other,” admits the French captain. To win, you needed a bit of success, but above all more character than the opponent. Belgium is undoubtedly still too tender, but we would not have noticed if the Blues had not redeemed a competitive mentality along the way, as evidenced by the conclusion of Antoine Griezmann: “We are here to demonstrate that we have the shoulders to win against any team. “Against Spain, Sunday, that would already be a good start.