“Golden Ball contender”, “Back bone of this French side” – Fans hail 31-year-old who makes ‘everything work’ after France’s FIFA World Cup QF win
France are the happier side, following their FIFA World Cup win over England in the quarter-finals. Fans who were impressed with Les Bleus overall had only words of praise for one player in particular: Antoine Griezmann.
The 31-year-old's ability in the playmaking area could hardly be ignored, as he was vital in taming the Three Lions. He aided Les Bleus on the counter-attack early on, cutting back to Aurelien Tchouameni, who scored the opening goal. Griezmann was also involved in the second goal, as he provided the brilliant cross that Olivier Giroud guided into the back of the net.
Griezmann has been the key provider for France, racking up three assists in five FIFA World Cup appearances in Qatar, and the fans have taken notice of his efforts.
They took to Twitter to laud his remarkable style of play, with many recognizing just how integral he has been to Didier Deschamps' side. Here is a selection of their tweets:
France were quite poor for most of that but had more quality in key moments, and the difference was Antoine Griezmann.
Makes everything work for them. Considering the nosedive his club career has taken since 2018 it's some achievement to be playing even better this time. Superb.
Griezmann is SO GOOD.
What a cross and what a header by Giroud. Phenomenal goal.
Griezmann is the Philip Seymour Hoffmann of this France team - rarely the lead protagonist but everything he gets involved in is excellent.
Antoine Griezmann with another great showing tonight.
Golden Ball contender, no doubt.
antoine griezmann is so beautiful, i need a separate camera on him at all times
What Griezmann did for France is what pundits think Hendo does for England, he was massive
Griezmann might not get all the media attention, but he is actually the back bone of this french side
While England are now out of the FIFA World Cup, France have moved on to the semi-finals, where they will face Morocco. Having won the 2018 edition of the World Cup in Russia, Les Bleus are once again firm favorites, with their grasp now almost on the cup.
However, they will need to see off the Atlas Lions, just as they did the Three Lions, and Didier Deschamps will look to Griezmann to provide the goods once more. If the French team are, against all odds, able to make it to a second consecutive World Cup final, they will face either Argentina or Croatia.
Didier Deschamps has admitted that France were lucky in their FIFA World Cup quarter-final win
While the English stumbled and struggled to score from their chances, the French were the more clinical side, and it made all the difference. However, Les Bleus manager Didier Deschamps discussed his team's overall performance, which saw them scale the Three Lions' hurdle.
Speaking to the press after the game, he revealed that they had been lucky to win (via Daily Mail):
"It's brilliant for the players to be in the last four again. We got a bit lucky although we gave away two penalties but we kept our lead with our hearts and our guts."
France will need to perform at a higher level if they are to stamp their mark over Morocco in the semi-finals and book their seat in the final of this World Cup.