- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
France have progressed to the semi finals of the world cup for the first time since 2006, with an emphatic 2-nil victory over a well-beaten Uruguay.
Clearly showing the effects of having lost their main marksman Edison Cavani, Uruguay just couldn’t bring the firepower needed to take it to their more fancied European opponents.
France showed good control on the ball and flowing movement while in possession, with the statistics at times showing the French to be making double the number of passes as their Uruguayan opponents.
» Re-live all the action with The Roar’s live blog
A first-half header from Raphael Varane gave the French team the lead, though admittedly, Uruguay looked the more dangerous at times in attack during the first half.
Antoine Greizmann provided the cross that allowed the Real Madrid defender to fly through the pack and nudge the ball past the keeper.
Uruguay, to their credit, continued to attack the French goal, however for every time they got the ball into the right places, the right person just wasn’t there.
Luis Suarez was workmanlike for Uruguay, chasing everything down, however when it came to that precise clinical and predatory finish on goal, Suarez was simply not the man.
The second half was much the same, and France started well, only for Uruguay to hold them out, relatively successfully.
However, the game was essentially over as a contest in the 61st minute, when Antione Griezmann took a regulation long range shot on goal that should not have troubled Fernando Muslera in goals for Uruguay. Alas, the keeper fluffed his lines, and tamely batted away the shot, only for it to lob over his head, into the goal, giving the French an ultimately unassailable 2-nil lead.
From there, France played the more professional game, controlling possession, slowing down the play when necessary, and maintaining the result they needed to make their passage through to the final four.
Uruguay never fully recovered in many ways in this match, whether it be from Cavani’s absence or the keeper’s error, and France played out the game in a composed and efficient fashion.
The only real moments of fire and discontent amongst the players saw a fracas involving Kylian Mbappe and Cristian Rodriguez, which provided one or two minutes of unsavoury player conduct. Replays showed that Mbappe fell under minimal to no contact as he brushed past Rodriguez in back play.
Still, to the victor go the spoils, and in this case, the spoils are that of a semi-final spot to France. As for Uruguay, they will lament an opportunity wasted, and instead be forced to wonder what might have been had they gone into this match at full strength.
Hardly a classic, but a solid contest nonetheless.
Uruguay 0
France 2
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.