Never say never, but …
This was always going to go one way.
Fair play to Morocco, they gave it their best shot. It almost looked even for a little while. After Kylian Mbappé missed his penalty, the French seemed a little off-balance. If the Moroccans had managed to nick one in that time frame, something might have happened. They didn’t.
So when Mbappé scored the opener, you could tell the tie was settled then and there. Has there ever been a stronger sense of inevitability attached to a national team? Watching France versus
a (more than solid) Morocco side gave the same impression as watching Bayern Munich versus Augsburg. They were not necessarily overwhelming or dominant in every single phase of the game, but it simply did not matter. France were too good. They were always going to win.
If they make the final again, they’ll be in the conversation for one of the best national teams in history. If they win the whole thing, the debate will be all but settled.
It’s too hard to hurt France
Morocco tried. They tried so hard. They just couldn’t find a way to get a goal past France. But why? Didier Deschamps is not Thomas Tuchel, he makes his team play free-flowing attacking football. There should have been gaps in their armor.
The problem is threefold:
- Pace: People don’t really talk about this, but France is a very quick team. Yes sure, everyone knows their attackers are rapid, but the rest of the starting XI are not far behind. On the rare occasion Morocco managed to break away, they were immediately surrounded by backtracking Frenchmen. Trying to hit on the counter was a near-impossibility.
- Risk: Because France can transition so quickly, attacking them with numbers is a huge risk. Morocco could never commit more than three forwards to any single sequence, limiting their numbers and naturally putting a cap on their offensive output. The French defenders had half the job already done for them.
- Pressure: Simply put, being under the hammer for 90 minutes is exhausting. Going entire 15 minute spells without a single attack makes it hard to execute when the chance does come. It gets in your head, forces mistakes where you need perfection. This is where a more cynical team, like Paraguay, excelled. They were built to suffer and disrupt. For Morocco, who came to play football, France were just too good at their game.
Any one of those factors is surmountable. All three together? It’s tough. Very tough. Not impossible, but, easier said than done.
Give Upamecano his due
It’s a shame defenders can’t win Ballon d’Ors, because Dayot Upamecano deserves one.
If anyone says he’s not a good defender, then they either a) don’t watch France or Bayern Munich at all, or b) have no understanding of football. Upamecano is literally a dream for any coach. He can pass like a midfielder, and possesses the pace and 1v1 defending ability of a top level fullback.
Combine that with the positioning sense of a proper central defender, imposing aerial abilities, and a knack for finding himself on the end of offensive set pieces, and you have a player who can do almost anything on a football pitch.
Honestly, if Upamecano did not play for France, a different country would have moved him to some other area of the pitch. He is almost too good to be a defender. Or maybe that just underlines the unfair prejudice against defenders, especially someone like Upamecano. For both Bayern Munich and France, he is overshadowed by the all-star offensive lineups those teams possess. When you have to share the spotlight with Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé, is it even possible to stand out?
Maybe it’s time to give him his due.
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