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Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty but made up for it with a brilliant goal to help France beat Morocco 2-0 on Thursday and secure a spot in the World Cup semi-finals.
France were awarded a penalty in the 29th minute after Noussair Mazraoui brought Mbappé down inside the box. But French fans were stunned when the Real Madrid star was denied by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Mbappé, however, made up for the poor spot-kick with a goal in the 60th to finally break the deadlock with a stunning effort from a tight angle from the edge of the box.
Désiré Doué provided the assist for Mbappé's picture-perfect curler into net.
Ousmane Dembélé doubled France's lead just six minutes later as Bounou's touch couldn't stop the ball from falling into the net.
Michael Olise found Mbappé, who touched the ball back for Dembélé. Mbappé continued his run, bringing the defenders with him, while Dembélé had plenty of space to work his magic.
In the semi-finals, they will face the winner of Friday's clash between Spain and Belgium.
It's a third successive World Cup semi-final for France, who are bidding to win their third title.
"We are exactly where we wanted to be. We will recover well and see who our opponent will be. I imagine there's a lot of excitement and passion in France. That's what we're here for, and the players have a duty to do everything they can to go as far as possible," France coach Didier Deschamps said.
Mbappé was subbed off in the 77th and later spotted with an ice pack on his ankle, but he said it's nothing serious.
"I have a minor ankle injury, but I'm completely fine. (Jean-Philippe) Mateta was in a better position to play the remaining minutes of the match and was fitter at that moment. That's all that happened," he added.
Morocco were hoping to reach the semi-finals for a second time in their history. They achieved that for the first time in Qatar four years ago - and were also beaten 2-0 by the French team.
"The future will be bright if we continue like this, but that doesn't mean we didn't want to win today. Of course we wanted to win today," Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said.
"We did everything we could to win, but we faced a very difficult opponent. It's a disappointment, of course, but we'll keep working for the future.
"We know we represent more than just one country. We represent the Moroccan people, and many countries across Asia and Africa. Many people see themselves in this team, and we'll keep working to win titles in the future."
Continue reading...
France were awarded a penalty in the 29th minute after Noussair Mazraoui brought Mbappé down inside the box. But French fans were stunned when the Real Madrid star was denied by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Mbappé, however, made up for the poor spot-kick with a goal in the 60th to finally break the deadlock with a stunning effort from a tight angle from the edge of the box.
Désiré Doué provided the assist for Mbappé's picture-perfect curler into net.
Ousmane Dembélé doubled France's lead just six minutes later as Bounou's touch couldn't stop the ball from falling into the net.
Michael Olise found Mbappé, who touched the ball back for Dembélé. Mbappé continued his run, bringing the defenders with him, while Dembélé had plenty of space to work his magic.
In the semi-finals, they will face the winner of Friday's clash between Spain and Belgium.
It's a third successive World Cup semi-final for France, who are bidding to win their third title.
"We are exactly where we wanted to be. We will recover well and see who our opponent will be. I imagine there's a lot of excitement and passion in France. That's what we're here for, and the players have a duty to do everything they can to go as far as possible," France coach Didier Deschamps said.
Mbappé was subbed off in the 77th and later spotted with an ice pack on his ankle, but he said it's nothing serious.
"I have a minor ankle injury, but I'm completely fine. (Jean-Philippe) Mateta was in a better position to play the remaining minutes of the match and was fitter at that moment. That's all that happened," he added.
Morocco were hoping to reach the semi-finals for a second time in their history. They achieved that for the first time in Qatar four years ago - and were also beaten 2-0 by the French team.
"The future will be bright if we continue like this, but that doesn't mean we didn't want to win today. Of course we wanted to win today," Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said.
"We did everything we could to win, but we faced a very difficult opponent. It's a disappointment, of course, but we'll keep working for the future.
"We know we represent more than just one country. We represent the Moroccan people, and many countries across Asia and Africa. Many people see themselves in this team, and we'll keep working to win titles in the future."
Continue reading...
