AL KHOR, Qatar - England defender Harry Maguire has tipped "ruthless" France to win the World Cup - despite the Three Lions being "a lot better than them in a lot of areas" - as match winner Olivier Giroud opined that the "mental side of things" earned Les Bleus a 2-1 quarter-final win on Saturday.
France might have come into the game as slight favourites, but the reigning champions were out-played for vast stretches of the game, particularly after Aurelien Tchouameni had given Didier Deschamps' team an early lead with a shot from distance.
Having taken the lead, France slowly lost urgency and impetus, finding it increasingly difficult to handle the brightness of Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden at the Al Bayt Stadium.
With Harry Kane equalising from the spot nine minutes into the second half after Tchouameni had tripped Saka, the wind seemed to be at England's backs.
France's vaunted attacking line, spearheaded by Kylian Mbappe, had been peripheral to the game; the reigning champions were being overwhelmed in midfield. Deschamps seemed curiously reluctant to try to wrest back control.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 12, 2022-Ausgabe von The Straits Times.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 12, 2022-Ausgabe von The Straits Times.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
PARISIANS' NOD TO THE GAMES
Event gets thumbs up from residents, who revel in the 'amazing' experience
Weir moves from spinning wheels to spinning discs
An emotional David Weir said on Sept 8 he had \"put his heart and soul\" into his Paralympic career, but now was the time for the British multiple champion to bring down the curtain on this chapter of his life.
China's Paralympic success fails to hit home
As the Paris Paralympics entered the final day of competition on Sept 8, China's athletes have been revelling in rampant success but few in the country appear to be paying attention.
Treble for US cagers, Jiang gets 7th gold
The United States won a third consecutive men's Paralympic wheelchair basketball title on Sept 7, while teenage Chinese swimmer Jiang Yuyan collected a remarkable seventh gold of the Paris Games.
BRONZE IS 'TOUGH' FOR FAVOURITE MA
Still, he can be proud of turning brutal encounter with bear into glorious career
Indonesia can hurt us: Aussie captain
Australia captain Mathew Ryan has stressed that the Socceroos cannot afford to underestimate Indonesia on Sept 10, as they go into their World Cup qualifier in Jakarta needing to bounce back from the surprise last-gasp loss to Bahrain five days earlier.
Wirtz and Musiala are hard to stop, says Nagelsmann
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has two reasons to be optimistic in Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, and he believes that his team will be hard to beat when the duo \"step on the gas\".
'PROUDEST DAY' ON CARSLEY'S DEBUT
England's interim boss lauds the players for smooth 2-0 win over his native Ireland
Coaching makes me forget my age: Prasad
Cricket coach Sarika Siva Prasad is trim, fit and sports a head of black hair the moustached senior easily looks decades younger than 65.
BATTLE FOR FINAL PLAY-OFF SPOT HEATS UP
Dallas cannot afford another loss but Chicago have lost star Reese for the season