Results Portugal vs France UEFA Nations League 2020/2021

Final: Portugal 0-1 France
Scored: Edge 53 ‘

Before their trip to Portugal, France had to lose 0-2 at home to Finland in a friendly match. Of course, coach Deschamps used many substitutes that day, but not to deny the problems faced by Bleus. Deschamps himself admitted that his students fell into a state of exhaustion due to the club’s busy schedule. They have to be recruited in a state of inactivity.

For example, midfielder Raphael Varane has played 1,305 minutes since August (both at Real Madrid and in France), more than 30% more than in the same period last season. Kylian Mbappé, N’Golo Kante or Kimpembe should also increase the density of the game similar to Varane.

In top-level football, the term “psychological burnout” is used to refer to players who fall into a state of mental fatigue, indifferent to the ball from having to play too much, to more stars who have to face. deal with this problem. French players have the biggest fitness problem among the best teams in Europe because they have to play almost two consecutive seasons, with little time to rest.

If France shows signs of lag from the moment of winning the 2018 World Cup, Portugal has made clear progress. Before the reception of France, the team of coach Fernando Santos was undefeated in the last 8 games (won 6). In Group 3 of the 2020/21 A Nations League, Portugal has the best scoring record (9 goals in 4 matches).

Star Ronaldo is still very lucky to score at 35, while the two young factors Joao Félix and Diego Jota have grown tremendously. They created the ideal combination for the Portuguese attack based on Ronaldo’s experience, Felix’s forward speed and Jota’s keen hunting instinct.

However, before the French team remains very formidable, coach Fernando Santos chose a safe solution by using the more experienced Bernano Silva in the 3-man attack alongside Ronaldo vs Félix instead of relying on Jota. Supporting them from afar is Bruno Fernandes, MU’s most important player today.

To balance manually, manually, the two remaining central midfielders Danilo Pereira vs William Carvalho are more defensive. In defense, the duo has a difference of more than ten years José Fonte (Lille) vs Ruben Dias (Man City) is arranged in the midfield and the two bands belong to Guerreiro (Dortmund) – Cancelo (Man City), which are all The best name of Portugal in the position he assumed in this match.

As for the world champions of France, Kingsley Coman, Griezmann, Anthony Martial, Kante, Kimpembe, Lucas Hernández or Varane are in the best conditions against the European champions for not playing (or simply for entering the bench field) in the loss to Finland a few days ago.

But Mbappé’s unhealed injury is clearly a huge loss for the attackers, in the context of Griezmann being lost, not only at club level but also to the national team. While on the midline, manager Deschamps still has to rely on Paul Pogba, the midfielder has struggled with form since the start of the 2020/21 season when he played poorly at MU. Or another name that comes out today: Rabiot is not so prominent in Juventus.

Not out of the wait, the climactic showdown recreated the Euro 2016 final, which took place with great quality of experience and attraction right after the kickoff. Cristiano Ronaldo’s first chance with a shot from a distance after a coordinated situation with Guerreiro in the 6th minute. The ball was stretched so that goalkeeper Lloris could only push the ball out.

In the 10th minute, France responded with the situation where Coman burst into the 16m50 area before launching a left shot at a tight angle, but Rui Patricio was focused on saving Portugal. Soon after, Griezmann slipped too well into the slot for Martial, but Patricio also ran too fast to narrow the finishing corner, rendering the striker in the MU jersey unable to finish off successfully.

In the 19th minute, the Portuguese goal staggered once more as Rabiot turned high and headed at point-blank range, sending the ball narrowly deflected from the goal. Very quickly, the home team reacted with a half-push volley from Bruno Fernandes from outside the 16m50 line. The ball hits the mark, but it is not dangerous enough to defeat Hugo Lloris.

In the 30th minute, Les Bleus launched a clever free kick that surprised the opposition. Instead of a direct shot, Griezmann intentionally passed Varane a tactical header so that Rabiot leaned back for a technical left foot hook move. Martial shook his head in response and the ball hit the crossbar when goalkeeper Patricio could only look.

In the 41st minute, Anthony Martial was still in time to shoot after an extremely uncomfortable cross from Lucas Hernández down the left wing, but once again Rui Patricio played well to save Seleccao. The first half ended after Cristiano Ronaldo’s failed aerial situation when the ball narrowly flew over the bar.

At the start of the second half, Ronaldo launched a daring free kick and the ball crossed the visitors’ goal, but no Portuguese player was able to cross to create a cut, that is, the ability to eat a huge table. However, in the end, the team that played most convincingly from the start of the match was aiming to take the lead.

53 minutes, after receiving the ball from Griezmann, Rabiot launched a left-footed shot in the 16m50 area. Goalkeeper Rui Patricio failed to catch and warrior Kante bravely rushed to the kick to hit the empty net. Immediately after conceding, coach Santos adjusted his squad when Diogo Jota was thrown onto the field to reinforce the attack.

At the same time, Seleccao also pushed the squad and increased the pace of attack because if they lost this match, Portugal will officially award the top of Group A3 to France and will no longer have the opportunity to enter the Nations League finals (only for the 4 best teams 4 groups in League A) to protect the championship they own. Because at that time, Portugal was 3 points behind France and lost in terms of the direct confrontation index (the first leg of the two teams tied 0-0), so it was definitely second in the final because the next phase of Nations League groups only had 1 more game.

In the 60th minute, Guerreiro shot straight into the visitors’ goal from a long free kick and Lloris had to jump to the rescue to save Lam’s jersey army. The ball shot out and a homeowner swung for 36-year-old midfielder José Fonte to hit the post with a header.

Feeling not “lost”, coach Santos continued to throw Trincao (a young forward with a Barca shirt) onto the field with Moutinho (Lobos). In the 76th minute, Moutinho himself, after Ronaldo’s effort, launched a powerful kick from a distance of about 20 meters, the ball pointed at the high angle, but Hugo Lloris flew wonderfully to use a spectacular Les Bleus save.

In the 82nd minute, Cancelo dangerously crossed the ball from the right wing and three Portuguese (Ronaldo, Jota, Trincao) entered, but no one really touched the ball to threaten Hugo Lloris. At the end of the game, coach Santos still can do nothing but adjust the staff, but everything that Portugal has continued to stop only at the level of opportunity.

Unable to reverse the game, Portugal had to lose 0-1 in the decider to top third place in the 2020/21 Liga A Nations League. With this result, Portugal was officially left without a chance to defend the Nations League championships that it owned, although this group still had another round of matches that were played a few days later.

Meanwhile, France became the first team to be present in the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League finals, regardless of the final result of the match. This is an unexpected achievement of many people because they are more or less underrated than Portugal, and they also have to play abroad. Obviously, the bravery and class of the world champion was expressed at the right time.

TEAM

BỒ ĐÀO NHA (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Raphael Guerreiro, Ruben Dias, Jose Fonte, Joao Cancelo; Bruno Fernandes (Moutinho 72 ‘), Danilo Pereira (Sérgio Oliveira 85’), William Carvalho (Diogo Jota 56 ‘), Joao Felix (Paulinho 85’), Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva (Trincao 72 ‘).

FRANCE (4-3-3): Hugo Lloris; Lucas Hernández, Presnel Kimpembe, Raphael Varane, Benjamin Pavard; Adrien Rabiot, N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba; Kingsley Coman (Thuram 59 ‘), Anthony Martial (Giroud 78’), Antoine Griezmann.