Euro Cortado #20: A victory for football
The beautiful game wins out against anti-football when it seemed to matter the most
The build-up to the Semi-finals felt like we were going into battle for the very soul of football.
In victory last night, the cavaliers in red with their joy, skill and excitement saw off the challenge of the blue foot soldiers with their trudging, their conservatism and their tedium.
English roundheads might still get a victory for anti-football tonight against rolling Dutch tanks, but thankfully, the great travesty of a France vs England final has been avoided.
Relive the action with your midweek cup of Euro Cortado!
Did anyone mention he’s only 16?
It’s official - the best team at UEFA Euro 2024, is one of the two best teams at UEFA Euro 2024.
Spain’s first half turnaround against France secured them a 2-1 win in Munich, sending them through to a first tournament final since the 2013 Confederations Cup.
The makeshift Spanish back line was an area for France to exploit, and they did so after nine minutes when they took the lead. For a while, it looked like it was going to be a long evening for Spain.
Spain were not just under the cosh for the first time all tournament, but they looked a little shellshocked at the back. So, how did they manage to find such great resilience to turn the game on its head? Well, the catalyst came in the form of a goal that has already been penned into football folklore.
From over 25 yards out, Lamine Yamal - who turns 17 on Saturday, you know - curled a beauty into the top corner past Mike Maignan to equalise and become the youngest scorer in European Championship history. The goal was so good, it almost makes the chances he had saved earlier in the tournament worth it, just so this goal was the record-breaker.
From then on, Spain were cooking, and it was their incredibly unlikely golden boot AND player of the tournament contender, Dani Olmo, who created space for himself and fired Spain ahead with his fourth of the Euros.
The attackers had done their job and, in the second half, it was time for the threadbare Spanish defence to do theirs. Critics will say they invited too much pressure and France were wasteful, but when down to the bare bones, credit should go to Spain for holding out when they failed to do so in 90 minutes against Germany.
Praise should also go to Luis de la Fuente for how he managed that defence; starting Jesús Navas before subbing him for Daniel Vivian in the second half and moving Nacho to full back was the right call, rather than tire Nacho out at full back and only have the more attack-minded full back Navas to come on when protecting a lead.
But the match will rightly be remembered for a 16-year-old keeping his head, as those twice his age around him seemed to be losing theirs, to produce a moment of magic and history which stunned the world.
And that is what football is all about.
Deschamps-ball finally goes flat
Late in the game, with France’s hopes of an equaliser fading, the cameras inevitably cut to a Frenchman in his twenties crying his eyes out. Ironic, because the rest of us were in tears whenever someone failed to knock France out.
I certainly will not be shedding any tears if Didier Deschamps leaves his post in the next few weeks. He and France deserved their 2018 World Cup success, but this year’s ultra-conservative, don’t-lose-at-all-costs approach, accompanied by his snide press-conference comments whenever his style was questioned were horrendous.
I do not believe there is a “right way” to play football and win football matches. Of course, I prefer fast, attacking play, but I will defend, for example, the Greece 2004 team until the cows come home. They played to their strengths - the only way they had a chance of beating the big guns was to be disruptive and hit them from set pieces, and NO ONE could stop them.
The difference here is that cautious, disruptive anti-football is certainly not playing to their strengths. France have one of the most electric attackers on the planet, accompanied by some of the greatest forwards in their history, but rather than utilise them, Deschamps has turned them into shadows.
France’s only goal scored from open play in SIX matches (that wasn’t an own goal) was created by Kylian Mbappé’s cross for Randal Kolo Muani in the ninth minute. The only time they could create anything of note was when Mbappé was when afforded too much space out wide by 38-year-old Navas.
As I mentioned, they had chances in the second half, but their missed chances had an air of rustiness about them, as if they have spent six weeks working on nothing but defensive drills and the opposition’s half of the training pitch was a no-go zone.
I’m sorry, France fans, but after your team’s drab group matches, their favourable path up against fellow underwhelming sides Belgium and Portugal and the fact that they have not shown your potential once in six matches, I’m delighted they have not made the final.
Anthony Tomas is a football writer and commentator, who writes for Flashscore and World Soccer Magazine.