{"id":31507,"date":"2024-07-09T20:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T20:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/?p=31507"},"modified":"2024-07-09T20:00:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T20:00:29","slug":"freewheeling-spain-face-austere-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/2024\/07\/09\/freewheeling-spain-face-austere-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Freewheeling Spain face austere French"},"content":{"rendered":"

Desk report: <\/strong>The battle between the two most successful national sides of the new millennium, Tuesday\u2019s Euro 2024 semi-final between France and Spain, also showcases two contrasting styles. Spain have dazzled in Germany, reaching the final four on the back of the attacking brilliance of wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams. By contrast France, one of the pre-tournament favourites who boast one-man offensive powerhouse Kylian Mbappe, have ground their way to the semis on the back of solid defence, conceding just one goal in five games. Spain\u2019s 11 goals scored is equal most in the tournament alongside hosts Germany, the team they beat in extra-time in the quarter final. La Roja have won five from five.<\/p>\n

Excluding wins on penalties, no team in Euros history has ever won more than five games in the same tournament. While veteran striker Alvaro Morata captains Spain, headlining the team\u2019s attacking prowess are young wingers Williams, 21, and Yamal, 16, providing speed and creativity from both flanks.Williams has scored a goal and laid on an assist. Yamal is yet to find the net \u2014 if he does score at this tournament he will break the record for youngest goalscorer at the Euros by almost two years \u2014 but has provided three assists, the most at the tournament. The team\u2019s progress has been underpinned by the relentless positivity of manager Luis de la Fuente, who has lavished praise on his side at every opportunity. \u2018This is a winning horse,\u2019 the coach said after Spain beat hosts Germany, \u2018and a role model for our country.\u2019<\/p>\n

De la Fuente, who has coached several of the players at junior levels for Spain, said \u2018we can go far. There is a lot of heart and soul in this team.\u2019 Spain will need that heart and soul considering three players who started the quarterfinal will be absent. Defenders Dani Carvajal and Robin le Normand are suspended while Pedri is out for the tournament with a knee injury. Having topped the goal tally with 16 at the Qatar World Cup, France qualified for the final four at Euro 2024 on the basis of strong defence while their attack has deserted them in Germany.<\/p>\n

France have made it to the semis scoring just three goals \u2014 none by a French player from open play.Only seven sides at Euro 2024 have scored less than France. Their run to includes two scoreless draws and two 1-0 victories thanks to own goals from an opposition player. Deschamps\u2019 side have however conceded just one goal \u2014 a penalty to Poland\u2019s Robert Lewandowski \u2014 and kept four clean sheets. Superstar Mbappe, who scored eight of France\u2019s Qatar World Cup goals, has scored just once in Germany \u2014 from a penalty. Despite the apparent lean run, Mbappe \u2014 who missed France\u2019s 0-0 draw with the Netherlands with a broken nose \u2014 has been crucial, with his probing run against Austria creating the only goal of the match.<\/p>\n

\u2018Obviously, it would be easier to win games if we were more effective on the attacking front, but in a major tournament like the Euro or the World Cup, you can\u2019t expect to go far if you\u2019re not solid. While they may not have set Euro 2024 alight, the French boast incredible recent experience at major tournaments. In the decade since the 2014 World Cup, France have failed to make the final of a major tournament only once, when they lost to Switzerland on penalties in the last 16 of Euro 2020. The French were runners up at Euro 2016 and made the World Cup final in 2018 and 2022, winning the former. After the quarter-final win over Portugal on penalties, Deschamps said France should not \u2018take for granted\u2019 they are again among the last ones standing. \u2018Being there in almost every major tournament something we need to take the time to savour.\u2019<\/p>\n

Source:BangladesDailyOnline<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Desk report: The battle between the two most successful national sides of the new millennium, Tuesday’s Euro 2024 semi-final between France and Spain, also showcases two contrasting styles. Spain have dazzled in Germany, reaching the final four on the back of the attacking brilliance of wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams. By contrast France, one of the pre-tournament favourites who boast one-man offensive powerhouse Kylian Mbappe, have ground their way to the semis on the back of solid defence, conceding just one goal in five games. Spain’s 11 goals scored<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31509,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31507\/revisions\/31509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}