Photo credit: Courtesy of Sports Vision
The final was a tense affair for many, and Argentina surprised everyone by playing a formation that had already seen DiMaria on the bench for several games, while Acuña was on the bench and Tagliafico played at left back, and Rabiot started for France, once again replacing Fofana in the quarterfinals.
(Both teams start)
The start of the match was a surprise to everyone, after a poor group stage performance and an injury, DiMaria was very sharp after a break of several games, DiMaria was constantly harassing the left side of the field from the start of the match, the French side was like a lost soul, Kounde had a hard time to keep DiMaria at bay, and then even Dembele retreated from the defense. Theo Hernandez didn't play either.
Argentina's strong running game was overpowering France, who had only three players in the midfield - Griezmann, Rabiot and Tchouameni - and Tchouameni had to stay in front of the defense to keep Messi at bay, which resulted in a very empty midfield for France, and Argentina's overall formation was much denser, and thus gave them an advantage in the middle of the field.
Having been unable to hold DiMaria, Argentina continued to have chances in the first part of the half, culminating in a 12-yard penalty in the 21st minute for Dembele's hooking of DiMaria in the box, which Messi scored easily to give Argentina the lead.
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After Argentina took the lead, it was easier for them to counterattack, France was still in a slump, not long after that, at 36 minutes, MacAllister was working with Messi near the center line, Messi suddenly made a beautiful pass to the right side of the wall to Alvarez, who then sent the ball forward, MacAllister caught up with the ball and killed the back of the French field, and finally crossed the ball to DiMaria in the penalty area. MacAllister crossed the ball to DiMaria in the box, and DiMaria pushed the ball into the 8-yard box to make the score 2-0 in 36 minutes, and France could not catch up with the Argentinean players in the counterattack.
Deschamps couldn't let this situation go into the second half, he replaced Dembele and Giroud with Thuram and Muani before the end of the first half, hoping to regain the midfield advantage with two players who have a lot of running power, and this substitution gradually made an impact in the second half, although France hardly had many shots on goal until nearly 70 minutes into the second half, but the constant running of Muani and Thuram began to slow down Argentina's physical strength. DiMaria was replaced by Acuña in the 64th minute, after the substitution, Argentina's attack slowed down, France could concentrate on guarding Messi and Alvarez, and then Mbappe led the charge on the left flank, Argentina gradually could not hold Mbappe in this way after the physical decline, they originally wanted to defend until the end of the game, Deschamps saw this and immediately boldly removed Griezmann and Thuram, and then took the ball out of the game. Deschamps had the audacity to remove Griezmann and the ineffective Theo Hernandez, and replace them with Coman and Camavinga, significantly increasing the pressure in the center of the field.
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Deschamps' substitution paid off in the 80th minute when Muani drove into the box and Otamendi, who was already suffering from physical exhaustion, accidentally fouled him, resulting in a 12-yard penalty that Mbappe kicked home. Then, just 90 seconds later, at the 81:00 mark, France had the ball in front of them, and Thuram picked up a pass from Mbappe and picked the ball up in the box, where Mbappe charged up and scored with a high-speed 14-yard clearance. Mbappe scored from 14 yards out, and France tied the game at 2-2 at the last minute, forcing Argentina into an extended match.
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The result of Argentina's all-out physical battle is that in the second half to extend the first half of exhaustion, Scaloni in the extension of the game a lot of substitutions, replaced Molina, Alvarez, De Paul, replaced Montiel, Paredes, Lautaro Martinez, and Messi also deliberately in the extension of the game in the first half of the physical retention, at the beginning of the France to let Mbappe Mbappe and Thuram continued to bring Muani and Thuram charge is still effective, but to 96 minutes Rabiot also because of the consumption of a lot of Fofana replaced, this time France's midfield attacking ability declined again, to extend the game to the second half, 108 minutes Messi and Lautaro Martinez and Enzo Fernandez played a wave of consecutive wall into the France Lautaro Martinez's shot from outside the box was blocked by Lloris, but Messi saw it coming and added a second. Kounde cleared the ball, but it crossed the goal line, and Argentina took the lead again in the second half of the extended match.
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However, at 115 minutes before the end of the game, France took a corner kick and Mbappe tried to take a shot in the penalty area, but Montiel, who was rushing up to block, blocked the ball with his hand and turned it into a foul. The referee awarded a 12-yard penalty again, and Mbappe stepped up to the line again and scored, and the two teams could only end the game with a score of 3-3, and entered the PK battle.
In the PKs, France's Coman and Tchouameni failed to score, while Argentina scored all four goals, winning the PKs 4-2, and Messi was finally able to win the Cup of Hercules, which he had dreamed of for many years.
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From the beginning of the game, Argentina pressed France with all their strength, especially the midfield's great movement, France's midfield three have been cut off by Argentina, Tchouameni stayed at the back, Rabiot has been running between offense and defense but could not link up, Griezmann stood more forward, France's midfield was cut off by Argentina and almost could not get the ball in front of the field, plus DiMaria's surprisingly good form forced France to make mistakes and fall back. DiMaria's surprisingly good form forced France to make a mistake and fall behind. Deschamps' bold substitutions were amazing, Muani and Thuram were both called up on short notice for this year's World Cup.
the national team
But at the last moment, they all played a key role, the two goals France recovered are directly related to them, and Mbappe also took over the direct charge after Griezmann retired, hard to catch up with Argentina, but in the prolonged game everyone's physical exhaustion is too much, Deschamps has no available substitutes, Messi has been very beautifully control Messi, on the other hand, has been controlling his fitness beautifully, playing the extended 120 minutes and creating goals. Argentina played better than France and overwhelmed France in terms of momentum, but France eventually lost control of the midfield in terms of the lack of pressure at the back, which was the biggest reason for the loss of momentum in this game.
