"Bull" knocked away "Rooster"

Nearly a year after Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo sent France out of EURO 2024 in the semi-finals, the two teams faced off again in the UEFA Nations League, also in the semi-finals. Although France's strength was considered quite high this time, the "Roosters" still could not overcome the "Bulls" with the excellence of Yamal and his teammates.

After completing the group stage unbeaten, Spain advanced to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 and created two dramatic matches against the Netherlands. In the end, La Roja won on penalties and reached the semi-finals, continuing their dream of becoming the first team to successfully defend the championship. To prepare for the match against France, coach De la Fuente summoned Dean Huijsen, Fermin Lopez and recalled Isco after nearly 6 years of absence from the team. The 63-year-old strategist's squad became even stronger when names like Zubimendi, Cubarsi and Porro made significant progress for both club and national team after EURO 2024. With those factors, Spain became more and more perfect in every position. Thereby, "The Bull" knocked out "The Rooster" to enter the final against Portugal.

On the French team's side, after "disastrous" failures in recent major tournaments, including the loss to this time's opponent Spain in the semi-finals of EURO 2024, "The Rooster" is trying to own a title to leverage for the upcoming 2026 World Cup campaign. However, to reach this semi-final, the journey of Didier Deschamps and his team was really too arduous. Deschamps's team thought they had been eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing 0-2 to Croatia in the first leg. However, in the second leg, goals from Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele forced the two teams to decide the winner by a penalty shootout. Overcoming the haunting penalty shootout against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final, the French spirit has registered in the semi-finals. However, against a perfect Spain, the French team once again stopped before their opponent at a major tournament.

The two teams entered the match with a scenario as predicted. The French team was rated lower, so they proactively set up a tight defense and quick counterattacks. With the "Rooster" front line consisting of 4 superstar strikers Doue - Olise - Dembele - Mbappe, who possess all the elements of speed and technique, the "Rooster" pushed the "Bulls" into a difficult situation. However, while playing enthusiastically, the "Rooster" net was suddenly torn open twice within 3 minutes by the excellence of striker Oyarzabal. He skillfully covered the ball in the French penalty area, before passing the ball to Nico Williams to easily open the score in the 22nd minute. In the 25th minute, Oyarzabal once again passed the ball conveniently for Merino to break through Maignan to double the gap. In the remaining minutes of the first half, despite great efforts, France could not penetrate the opponent's net due to the excellence of goalkeeper Unai Simon, who continuously successfully blocked shots from Doue, Mbappe and Dembele.

In the second half, things got worse for the French team. The "Rooster" had not yet scored a goal when they conceded two more goals in a row. In the 51st minute, the "Bulls" were awarded a penalty when Yamal took responsibility for the penalty spot for the first time. The 17-year-old player coolly scored his first goal from the 11m mark in his career. Exactly 1 minute later, the score was 4-0 for Spain when Pedri scored after an assist from Nico Williams. The French team then had a goal to reduce the gap due to Mbappe from the 11m mark. However, the 4-goal gap was established in the 67th minute, when Yamal seized Porro's one-touch pass to score a double and increase the gap to 5-1.

The Spanish walls will be relaxed in the final minutes with a "too safe" distance. However, a much "lesser-known" character compared to the French superstars made the match explode in the final minutes, that is: Rayan Cherki. He became the main character that made Spain "close to death" in the last 15 minutes. In the 79th minute, the player wearing the Lyon shirt volleyed with his left foot like a bomb, shortening the score to 2-5. In the 84th minute, Cherki passed the ball to Malo Gusto, who rushed down in the 84th minute and crossed the ball, the ball hit the Spanish defender in the opposite direction, creating a goal: 3-5. In the 90+3 minute, it was Cherki again with a cross for Kolo Muani to head and the score was shortened to 4-5 for France. However, the match only had 5 minutes of injury time, in the remaining 2 minutes, "The Rooster" could not make a unique comeback, had to accept stopping at the semi-finals.

After a thrilling 9-goal victory over France, Spain will face Portugal in a fierce battle for the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League title in 3 days. This can be considered a “classic” match between two superstars of two generations, the “boy” Lamine Yamal, who is only 17 years old, and the “old man” Cristiano Ronaldo, who is now over 40 years old.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/bo-tot-huc-vang-ga-trong-130822.html