The Euro round of 16 match between France and Belgium was an opportunity for Hugo Lloris to deliver a surprising revelation about the World Cup semi-final between Les Bleus and Les Diables Rouges.
The confrontation between France and Belgium on Monday in the round of 16 of the Euro brought back memories of the World Cup semi-final between the two teams in 2018. A painful memory for the Red Devils, convinced that they had been the better team on the pitch. However, if the Belgians did indeed dominate the debates, the chances had been shared and the French defense had ended up making the difference since it was Samuel Umtiti who scored the only goal of the match.
Confident in their defensive solidity, the Blues had chosen to play very deep, ready to endure the Belgian assaults. And according to Hugo Lloris, this tactical choice had been made by the French players and in particular by Antoine Griezmann more than by Didier Deschamps. “To be in the know, he will always reproach us for having defended too deep. It was us who did it at the time, it was Antoine (Griezmann) who took his responsibilities”he explained in the columns of The team.
“They broke their teeth on us”
“There is this relationship of trust with the coach where we, the players, can have our feelings, we adapt. We couldn’t leave them any space behind. Either we went looking for them very high, or very low. Well, we stayed in a low block a lot anyway,” he continued, convinced that the Blues had signed the “perfect match”.
“We had checked it, he said again.
It was frustrating for the Belgians, because it was the golden generation, we feared it a lot, but they came up against us and we had the biggest chances because Courtois was decisive. I think they have more regrets about the Nations League semi-final (3-2, October 7, 2021) than about the World Cup semi-final.
In the Nations League semi-final, the Belgians led 2-0 at half-time before being overturned in the second half by the Blues.
