adminBRASILIA. — After being touted as one of World Cup soccer’s entertainers, it was a gritty performance which got France through to the quarter-finals in a 2-0 victory over Nigeria on Monday.
France’s forward line had made headlines with eight goals in their opening two group games, but there was little flair on display in a hard-fought contest against the African champions.
France needed a late header from midfielder Paul Pogba and an injury-time own goal from defender Joseph Yobo to overcome a robust Nigeria.
The reward is a quarter-final against Germany today at 6pm at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, following the Germans’ 2-1 victory over Algeria.
The two European footballing giants have contrasting form heading into the game.
Germany impressed right from the start of the World Cup, putting four goals past Portugal and conceding none at the back. Since then, however, the Germans have faltered, drawing 2-2 with Ghana, narrowly beating USA 1-0, and survived several scares to beat Algeria 2-1 in extra-time.
2010 World Cup Golden Boot winner Thomas Mueller scored a hat-trick against Portugal, but has struggled to produce the goods since, though not for lack of trying.
Meanwhile, Germany’s defence continues its struggles, with Mats Hummels being unfit to face Algeria, and Per Mertesacker’s lack of pace being continually exploited.
Coach Joachim Loew has also yet to fix his midfield problem. Loew doesn’t seem comfortable with pushing Philipp Lahm back to a full back role despite Germany’s clear problem in that area, and Sami Khedira has yet to fully regain his pre-injury form.
France, conversely, seemed to have gone from strength to strength. After beating Honduras 3-0 in the opener, they embarked on a 5-2 near-rout of Switzerland, and beat Nigeria 2-0 in the round of 16.
While Karim Benzema’s goals have dried up somewhat after two scorching performances against Honduras and Switzerland, the rest of his team are jelling together well, and picking up when he can’t get the goals. Notably, Paul Pogba has markedly improved after a lacklustre opening game, and so has winger Antoine Griezmann. Also, Mathieu Valbuena has been a consistent threat for France down the right wing in all matches.
Coach Didier Deschamps’ plan of keeping the harmony in the squad has working out perfectly, and with more time, his team is looking more and more like plausible champions.
If the Germans don’t resolve their squad balance, expect France to quickly over-run them and progress to the semi final.
“We’re not the prettiest or the best, but we can do good things,” France coach Deschamps said after the game against Nigeria. “The deliverance came late. There was a lot of tension because we were up against a very athletic side and there were a lot of challenges.”
Four years ago, France crashed out at the group stage, shamed a nation by going on strike and were jeered by their own fans and lambasted by politicians in the fallout from an embarrassing tournament.
It’s a very different situation now.
“I’m proud of my players because we’re coming back from very far. I think we’ve given a lot of pleasure back to our fans,” Deschamps said. “I think there were 5 000 here and millions back home who will feel proud.”
Meanwhile, Germany have suffered a blow ahead of their World Cup quarter final clash with France after it was revealed a number of the squad players have been hit by illness.
Seven members of Germany’s squad are reported to be suffering from flu, coach Joachim Loew confirmed that the players were “slightly ill”.
Loew attempted to play the issue down, betraying only that most of the affected players had “sore throats”.
‘It’s not that bad at the moment,” he said, “I don’t want to over-dramatise it.”
But given the number of players it has affected, there are concerns that the issue may be more serious than Loew is letting on.
Mats Hummels and Christoph Kramer are considered to be among those suffering after Hummels missed Germany’s second round tie against Algeria, while Kramer sat out an entire day of training this week. Hummels, certainly, was hit by more than a sore throat, with Loew admitting that the Dortmund star was bedridden for the Algeria match, his condition having worsened the night before.
Thomas Muller is also suspected to be among those affected. His coach admitted that the Bayern forward had shown “symptoms of the flu” even before Germany’s last game. — AFP.
Online Reporter