Last week, we predicted that France will win the World Cup; you can read here.
France lifted the biggest prize in the global football scene, in Russia, last week Sunday. Although the French boys are still basking in the World Cup glory…
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…we have decided join in the celebration by letting you into our backend and giving you the cheat sheet on how we arrived at our predictions.
1. Backroom Staff Consistency: The frequency at which club sides and national teams change managers in recent years is quite alarming. Didier Deschamp was appointed as the coach of the French National team on the 8th July 2012. He was appointed to deliver the 2014 World Cup, which he failed to do, He also failed to win the European Championship on home soil in 2016, still, the French football federation kept faith in him and his backroom staff. Against all odds, Didier Deschamp delivered the 2018 World Cup and He did it in style.
2. Water-Tight Defence: A strong defence as always been the foundation of every World Cup winning team. The French team boasted the likes of Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane (a serial champions league winner), and little known Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez. Umtiti and Varane were rock solid, keeping out teams like Argentina and Belgium on the road to winning the World Cup.
3. Intelligent Midfield Play: N’golo Kante and Paul Pogba were at their very best all through the World Cup campaign. The duo was able to contain the threat posed by the Messi led Argentinian team, Cavani led Uruguayan team and Hazard and his cohorts. Overall, Kante made more ball recoveries than anyone else in the tournament with an incredible 35 recoveries, Pogba, also played a very effective role in midfield, making crucial tackle and interception especially against Belgium. Pogba and Kante bode to be the best international midfield for the next decade.
4. Kylian Mbappe Dynamism: When Lionel Messi was 19, he was an unused substitute in the World Cup quarterfinal. A 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo could not guide his side to glory in the Euros 2004 . When Kylian Mbappe was 19, he was scoring an absolute screamer in the World Cup Final. It was his pace and technical ability that allowed France to be conservative all through the tournament. Mbappe had many great moments in the tournament including his fabulous goal against Croatia, He has the world on his feet.
