France shows no signs of slowing down in World Cup quarterfinal win vs Morocco
· Yahoo Sports
FOXBOROUGH, MA – The power of France is in the skill of its players, yes, and having three of the best of the world in Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise is an embarrassment of riches for head coach Didier Deschamps.
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Combine that with the pedigree of a football-loving, successful nation – and it’s no wonder France is on the verge of qualifying for a third straight final following its 2-0 domination of Morocco in the quarterfinal on Thursday, July 9.
The secret sauce of this French team – the béarnaise, if you will – isn’t the Ballon d’Or winners or the Golden Boot contenders. It’s the belief that nothing is more important than the jersey they wear, collar or not.
“First and foremost, we play with passion, the passion of representing our country,” said Kylian Mbappe, who scored his eighth goal of the tournament to make it 1-0 in the 60th minute.
Nothing in their professional careers is a bigger deal than this for the French players, Mbappe said. The veterans instill that philosophy in the younger players and the tradition is passed down.
“They need to know the pressure that it means to represent France,” Mbappe said. “Because you need to win. Because otherwise, people will want to kill you.”
Being on the French team, wearing the jersey, “is above all else,” Deschamps said.
“It really pleases me that the players are attached to it,” he said.
Against Morocco, France had been frustrated for the first half and then some. Mbappe missed a penalty that was somewhat controversial because of the delay for VAR instituted by the referee despite all parties on the field being ready to go. Morocco, the team that had put up a valiant fight in the 2022 semifinal between these two teams, was without firepower up top (missing striker Ismail Saibari). But it looked like "The Atlas Lions" could hold off a French attack for 120 minutes until the coin-flip nature of the penalty shootout decided a winner.
France’s finishing was dubious over the previous 160 minutes, dating back to Mbappe’s second goal against Sweden in the round of 32 more than a week ago that had put the exclamation point on that 3-0 win.
But Paraguay’s defense provided a serious challenge and only Mbappe’s penalty score in the 70th minute advanced the French. To have strung together sufficient offense against a team of Morocco’s quality is only a good sign heading into this tournament’s final stages.
“We didn’t have efficiency,” Deschamps said, “but it doesn’t put doubt in the heads of my players.”
Rightfully so, much attention has been paid to the attack. But France has conceded two goals all tournament and none in its three matches of the knockout round. The players competing with yellow cards in the book, such as Olise, are freed up by a clean slate in the next round.
Mbappe was part of the 2018 squad that won it all and the 2022 team that came up devastatingly short in the final that went into a shootout against Argentina. Is this the best French team he’s been on?
“No, it’s not,” he replied.
Yet. They didn’t finish first or second – yet. After doing what it did to Morocco, a top-five team when healthy according to both FIFA rankings and overall sentiment, making another final seems like a lock.
“(We) have the most potential, for the time being,” Mbappe said. “… But I always say that the strongest teams are the ones that win. I don’t see a World Cup next to me, so for now, we’re not the strongest team.
“I feel that we understand the potential for the team.”
Now is not the time to talk potential, however.
The opponents know the danger on the other side. Knowledge is helpless, though, when there is a streak of blue or white coming at them on the pitch.
“The fear, the apprehension, is not going to score any goals. It’s a feeling,” Mbappe said. “But feelings aren’t going to help you win matches. So we need confidence to enter on the pitch and then we have to demonstrate whether we want to be invincible and all of the other adjectives that you chose.”
Here’s another adjective.
Winners.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: France shows no signs of slowing down in World Cup quarterfinal win vs Morocco