Nizhny Novgorod: He calls himself half-Uruguayan with Diego Godin, the godfather to his daughter; he drinks mate (an coffee drink of South mate) more than his Uruguayan mates at Atletico Madrid do; He likes Uruguayan type of cuisine more than French food. Yet, for all his love for Uruguay and that country’s people Antoine Griezmann took it upon himself to help France win the quarterfinal game 2-0 here Friday and seal a semifinal spot in the FIFA World Cup after 12 years.
Griezmann turned provider from a free-kick for defender Rapahel Varane to score with a glancing header and help France take the lead in the first half. Then Griezmann himself scored, but he was lucky as his regulation shot from 20 yards out was palmed into the back of the net by Uruguay custodian Fernando Muslera. Griezmann’s celebrations were muted, but the other French players really did not care. It was Griezmann’s third goal of this World Cup, but his first not from a penalty.
That goal secured the victory but did not end the drama in Nizhny Novgorod, as Uruguay’s frustration boiled over in the 67th minute when Kylian Mbappe fell to the floor.
Uruguay skipper Diego Godin gestured with the teenager to get up, then tried to pull him from the turf, sparking a melee which involved most of the players and saw French coach Didier Deschamps come onto the pitch to try to calm tempers.
France’s victory was merited as it was they who had the bulk of possession and always looked the most likely to score. They might have scored as early as the 15th minute when Mbappe mistimed a close header.
The lightning-quick Mbappe and Griezmann struck fear into the Uruguayan defence all afternoon. Usually unflappable so far in the tournament, Godin and company were caught napping on a number of occasions. In midfield, France’s N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba snuffed out any potential threat posed by Uruguay.
And up front for La Celeste, Luis Suarez cut an isolated and agitated figure after Edinson Cavani was ruled out with injury. The Barcelona star was partnered by Cristhian Stuani after a week of will-he-won’t-he speculation surrounding Cavani ended up with the PSG striker failing to recover from a calf strain. Without Cavani upfront, Uruguay and Suarez posed little threat.
A tight and nervy encounter to begin with, the game burst into life after Varane’s goal. Until that point Uruguay had struggled to get into the French penalty area, but within four minutes of the goal would have been level except for an exceptional save by Hugo Lloris.
The French skipper saved superbly with one-hand from defender Martin Caceres, whose header from a free-kick look destined to go in. Godin could have scored from the follow-up, but that was the closest the South Americans would come to scoring all afternoon.