France finally ended their open play goal drought but it wasn’t enough to stop Spain from overturning the slender deficit with a four-minute turnaround during an action-packed first-half, powered by teenage wonderkid Lamine Yamal four days before his 17th birthday as Luis de la Fuente’s side held firm in a frenzied second-half to seal a spot in Sunday’s European Championship final.
Les Bleus drew first blood
Spain 2-1 France
Yamal 21, Olmo 25 — K. Muani 8
- After three assists and 11 shots at this tournament, Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal (16y, 362d) becomes the youngest-ever goalscorer in European Championship history with first-half finish from distance
- Spain, who lost to eventual champions Italy on penalties at this stage three years ago, will face either England or Switzerland in Sunday’s final
- What next? Discussion over Didier Deschamps’ future returns once more as 2018 world champions France fall short again in a major tournament as former Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane continues to be linked
AFTER all the discourse surrounding a stodgy playstyle and inability to link midfield with attack, France scored their first goal from open play after a 583-minute wait. Kylian Mbappe’s cross fed former club teammate Randal Kolo Muani – sandwiched between Aymeric Laporte and Marc Cucurella – to head home an early opener.
It was the sucker punch Spain needed and soon enough, they would respond. Perhaps guilty of monopolising possession at times but here, no such accusation could be levelled at a team who persistently probed until an opening revealed itself.
Fabian Ruiz’s header was close, while William Saliba – France’s best performer this past month – swept danger away twice with clearances before marshalling Alvaro Morata after clever play by the aforementioned Ruiz in-and-around the area.
Jesus Navas was booked for a clumsy but nonetheless necessary foul on an advancing Adrien Rabiot as he shaped to find Mbappe ahead of him in transition, before Nacho Fernandez timed his block well denying the forward two minutes later.
Yamal picks his moment
Yamal’s eventful tournament entered another stratosphere and came without warning outside the area, latching onto a loose ball before silkily creating space between him and Rabiot to curl a left-footed effort in off the far post 25 yards out.
It was made even sweeter knowing how quickly Rabiot’s comments had aged poorly, the 29-year-old midfielder reduced to merely a helpless bystander against the very teenager he was questioning in the build-up to kick-off.
Officially made a free agent last week after five years at Juventus, he was hooked on the hour mark for a more creative-minded option in Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga but the 21-year-old couldn’t inspire a comeback.
Barcelona’s Jules Kounde, who should’ve won Man of the Match awards in consecutive knockout games against Belgium and Portugal, would’ve been grateful to see Dani Olmo credited with Spain’s winner four minutes later after having the final touch as the RB Leipzig midfielder again oozed composure in the box.
He ghosted beyond Aurelien Tchouameni before firing goalwards, watching Kounde flick his goalbound effort beyond Mike Maignan to complete a dramatic turnaround.
Sure, it was an unlucky sequence. France couldn’t say they hadn’t been warned though, their defensive passivity duly punished in double-quick time.
If not for Saliba’s alertness and Maignan’s timely sliding intervention to deny Nico Williams, the deficit could’ve been three goals barely five minutes after the half-time interval.
Much like against Portugal, Ousmane Dembele proved an ineffective livewire, doing everything besides find an incisive final pass down the right as he crossed into opposition territory or often made the wrong decision.
Mbappe wasn’t much better either, as Navas hobbled off for Athletic Bilbao’s Dani Vivian and Spain sought to shore up defensively. Antoine Griezmann and Bradley Barcola were soon on too, though France’s fortunes wouldn’t change.
Dayot Upamecano headed wide from a promising corner, Theo Hernandez was too quick for his own good after Mbappe expertly controlled Camavinga’s searching pass before their waves of pressure subsided as Spain wrestled back control.
Hernandez fired high and wide inside the area, Unai Simon had a heart-in-mouth moment two minutes later as his misplaced kick was partially intercepted by Dembele and Yamal almost replicated his curling effort with time ticking down.
Into the final five minutes and cameras panned to France fans with hands-on-head or covering their mouths in disbelief as their talisman blazed an opportunity over the crossbar after Barcola skipped past Nacho and Rodri before feeding him on the run.
Mbappe later conceded this tournament had been a failure personally and all things considered, it’s difficult to disagree. While better than Euro 2020, the 25-year-old has been anointed the world’s best player and with that you must perform better – injured or not – in a France side far too reliant on him. Sound familar?
Spain are a stronger collective unit, boast their own star some seven-and-a-half years younger than Kylian, and proved deserved winners here even with two key starters suspended in Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand. Whether it’s England or the Netherlands standing opposite them on Sunday, they’ll be very difficult to stop now.
Picture source: Getty Images
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