We’ll be honest, we’re not the biggest fan of international breaks, unless it’s for the Euros or the World Cup. The UEFA Nations League has come under a lot of fire, particularly from the players who believe it’s yet ANOTHER money making scheme by the chaps from UEFA. Their argument being that they’re just playing too much football – in tournaments that just keep materialising. Are there not enough benchmarks in international football already? Do we need more trophies? More tournaments? Probably not, but it happened anyway and 2018 World Cup Champions France battled it out in the final against Euro 2020 finalists Spain.
Here’s what went down.
The boy wonder strikes again
We were possibly a bit harsh about this Nations League thing. Sure, it may not be universally recognised as a real tournament, at least not yet, but it turns out that it was a lot of fun to watch. The final four brought three wild nights in Milan (sounds like a move title) and gave us champions who had to come from behind twice to lift an unfamiliar trophy.
French phenom, Kylian Mbappé, was ice cold when it counted and gave his esteemed captain, Hugo Lloris, the chance to hoist the UEFA Nations league trophy into the night sky. The game was fairly controlled throughout and it was a few moments of sheer quality that made the fixture explode into life and eventually it blew wide open. It was then, with more space and time, that France found a way to win it.
Having beaten Belgium 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in the semi-final, they beat Spain in the final after having trailed 1-0. First Karim Benzema bent in an outrageous shot to equalise a minute after Mikel Oyarzabal had given Spain the lead and then Mbappé, clean through, coolly slid the ball under Unai Simón for the winner.
Should the winner have been disallowed?
Spain were absolutely fuming about Mbappé’s goal. Looking at the tapes, he was clearly offside when he was put through by Theo Hernández, and Barcelona centre back, Eric García, admitted he refused to accept referee Anthony Taylor’s explanation that the tiniest of touches from his studs played the Frenchman back onside again. It was a cruel, pretty bull**** way to lose a final.
It’s no longer a game of inches apparently, but rather a game of millimetres.
However, Mbappe’s goal didn’t mark the end of the game. The three goals had come in 15 minutes and although there would be no more in the remaining 15, there was so much happening it was hard to keep up. Mbappé scored in the 80th minute. Just as important was heroic French captain Hugo Lloris’s dramatic save from an Oyarzabal stinger in the 95th. Between those moments there had been two more superb stops, one at each end, as the final, frantic minutes played out and Spain kept flooding forward desperate to recover a lead they felt they had deserved and were determined not to relinquish without a fight.
To the point that goalkeeper Unai Simón went up for a corner and stayed up too, getting a touch in the build-up that ended with Lloris making a huge stop, team mates collapsing on the floor in disbelief. When the final whistle blew, it was Mbappé’s goal that had done it for Didier Deschamps.
A tale of two halves
French manager Deschamps had said it was impossible to take the ball off Spain, a statement of fact that also felt like a declaration of intent, and for much of this game so it proved.
Sergio Busquets was the pivot – as he has been for over a decade – on which some beautiful, controlled Spanish play was built.
17 year old, yes 17 year old, Gavi was electric. Turning, darting and making a nuisance of himself and often leaving plenty French players in his dust.
Ferrán Torres surely made his club manager Pep Guardiola proud throughout the tournament – ending as Spain’s top scorer. Forever the outlet, he received on the right and never hesitated to take on his opponents.
Besides Torres putting Pablo Sarabia in on goal for a shanked shot, there was little real opportunity in the opening forty-five minutes for the Spaniards, which proved to be their Achilles heel. A brief VAR check for a potential Jules Koundé handball was the closest they came and both managers went in at the break believing that they had this under control.
The second half was when things really kicked off though. The sturdy padlocks in both midfields were pried open and we were treated to some exhilarating international football.
It began with Sarabia almost finding Oyarzabal and Marcos Alonso having to intercept Mbappé, a glimpse of the what was to come from the young French star. The Spanish crossbar is apparently still quivering in Milan after a Theo Hernández thunderbastard almost gave the French the lead.
Moments after that, Busquets dispatched a breath-taking pass for Oyarzabal who then held off Dayot Upemecano – who came on for the injured Raphaël Varane (look away United fans) – and scored. Just seconds had passed between those two shots and just seconds would pass before the next, Benzema curling in a sensational shot to make it 1-1. Benzema is surely staking his claim as the best striker in the world right now for club and country.
Asthma pumps in hand, we watched as the game resumed at a goal each. The engines of these players were really being pushed to the limit as they surged forward from one end of the pitch to the other. Mbappé was denied by Simón, as the noise in the stadium reached an all new high. Yeremi Pino controlled another 70-yard Busquets masterpiece, turned and almost got Spain another goal. It was wild, and perhaps the type of tempo that suited France, who soon found themselves the winner. Mbappe was one on one with Simón, paused and buried the final goal to send the French faithful into raptures.
What a game.
Line-ups
Spain: Unai Simón; Azpilicueta, Laporte, Eric García, Alonso; Gavi (Koke 75), Busquets, Rodri (Fornals 84); Sarabia (Pino 61), Ferran Torres (Merino 84), Oyarzabal.
France: Lloris; Koundé, Varane (Upamecano 43), Kimpembe; Pavard (Dubois 79), Tchouaméni, Pogba, T Hernández; Griezmann (Veretout 90); Mbappé, Benzema.