They are the symbols of the semi-finalists, they reflect the identity of their national teams. The passport for the last act of the World Cup is in their hands
Messi is Argentina: playmaker, leader and goalscorer, the nucleus of the atom that hasn’t run out, a risky dependency though because Scaloni doesn’t have many alternative energies. Modric is Croatia’s multiplier: the soloist who ignites the imagination of a perfect orchestra but with few symphonic variations. Mbappé is France’s weapon of mass destruction: a combination of power, technique and speed that rips through defenses or draws them in, freeing space for teammates. Amrabat is Morocco’s permanent center of gravity: the switch that transforms the density of the defensive phase into the boarding of the restart. They are the four symbols of the semifinalists, they reflect the identity of their national teams. The passport to the final is in their hands.
Argentina
If Messi has the ball, it’s impossible to stop him
Pelé has won three World Cups, Maradona one, can Messi stay zero? This is the last chance of a wonderful story that lacks the best chapter. It is also clear from the “bad” attitude against Holland: Messi is playing everything. And he is all for Argentina. It would be too much to say if the thought didn’t go back to Maradona in Mexico 86: there Diego would have won even if he had played alone. Messi isn’t all-encompassing, but football has changed and it’s increasingly difficult to win alone against tactically organized and athletically inexhaustible teams. Messi doesn’t have the leadership of Diego, he missed Burruchaga / Di Maria and doesn’t have a Valdano fixed next to him, but he takes his hands and breaks through with the ball glued to his feet. He opened the scores against Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Australia and got Molina to score against the Netherlands with a stroke of genius. All for him, he for all. Never so inside the game, Leo touches an average of almost 70 balls per game, has shot 22 times, committed 8 fouls. He said Van Gaal: “You have to take away their possession”. It depends a lot on who Dalic will put on him: Brozovic perhaps?
Croatia
Modric the midfielder, an exciting role
Observers from Brazil-Croatia were surprised by Modric before the result. And not from his class, he would be granted. No: from the fact that he started the game as a “false attacking midfielder”, therefore as a midfielder who fencing the first play. Glued to Casemiro. The world upside down: Modric branding Casemiro. Can it? In today’s football yes. What impresses is the evolution of the Croatian, born 10 for strokes and physique, and backward in that area of modern direction that today ideally “dresses” the 8, between De Bruyne and Verratti. With 90 touches per game, Modric draws all the strategies of the Croatian national team. But he doesn’t do it sitting at his desk: he follows the game with a movement lacking in Gavi and Pedri, he has committed more fouls than he has conceded, and with his vertical (from the right) or circular (if there is a fetching the ball) moves all of Croatia which otherwise would not have particular variations on the theme. It will take the best Mac Allister and that’s not necessarily enough.
France
Mbappé the “rugby player”, breakthrough actions
The more offensive team against the more protected one: France-Croatia already offers a fascinating theme. Deschamps attacks with almost everyone, but the symbol of the goal, not surprisingly the top scorer, is Mbappé. He is the designated heir of Ronaldo, to whom he is more approachable technically, and of Messi. But compared to the legends he has already won a World Cup and is now aiming for the second. Left wing? Center forward? He has a well-defined area, the left of the attack (in Russia he was the right), he looks like a rugby player in the way he breaks through against the defences. Compared to PSG here he seemed more thoughtful, less worried about aiming for goal without seeing the obstacles, but always “vertical”. He hardly touches balls in his own half, only in the opponent’s. The left axis is completed with Theo Hernandez and Rabiot, two others with little interest in lateral vision, always looking and running towards the horizon. Mbappé will find his friend Hakimi and the battery of pressure-men who are exalting Morocco with this furious and systematic aggression waiting for him in the area. But dedicating yourself to him means leaving Giroud and the French raiding agents free…
Morocco
Amrabat, the pivot that comes from Italy
With an average possession of 30 percent, it is clear that Morocco is not interested in having the ball: a few are enough, but lethal. Regragui is the master of tactics at this World Cup. He has set up a 4-3-3 that closes in a 4-5-1, exerts obsessive pressure and, once the rival action is broken, he unleashes furiously forward, all in a run with a touch. The director of attack is the phenomenal Ounahi, but the pivot of the strategy is Amrabat, ahead of the defence, with a less offensive range of action than in Fiorentina, and the power to dominate the entire front horizontally, thanks to a sense of unique location. Amrabat is the fifth defender and the first midfielder. It’s up to him the first choice: whether to direct the ball to the lane in which he conquered it or to dictate the change in front, with a throw that takes his rivals by surprise but not his teammates, mentally ready to start in progression. In his pivot role he should touch a hundred balls, but he doesn’t get to fifty because Morocco scientifically plays on non-possession. Portugal have never figured out how to challenge them in the centre, if France make the same mistake they could face a lethal turnaround.
December 12, 2022 (change December 12, 2022 | 10:56 am)
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