Iran Press/ Europe: Goal-shy France will be looking to silence the critics when they take on Spain in their Euro 2024 semifinal clash on Tuesday in Munich, while their opponents hope to keep their impressive campaign going even without key players.
Spain and France, two titans of European football, will meet in a mouth-watering semifinal clash between both the current and pre-tournament favourites.
The talismanic Kylian Mbappe will lead the line for the French, while promising young winger Lamine Yamal is also catching the eye. But France’s form has faltered, the team having been expected to sweep all before them.
Spain, the only side with a 100 percent record at Euro 2024, are joint-top in the number of goals (11) and top on total attempts (102) and balls recovered (230), demonstrating why they are now everyone’s hot tip to lift the trophy.
Criticism has been hurled at France for a string of unimpressive performances, including progressing to the last four without scoring a goal in open play.
Despite reaching the final of the last two World Cups, winning in Russia in 2018 and losing only on penalties to Argentina in Qatar in 2022, France’s Euros record under coach Didier Deschamps is less impressive. In his 12 years, their best result was a runner-up spot in 2016 on home soil.
In the quarterfinals, France edged past Portugal on penalties, with Mbappe substituted after another match with more time spent fiddling with his mask rather than threatening the opposition goal.
Spain, in contrast to France, are in imperious form with five straight wins, but will be missing a few key players in the semifinals. Midfielder Pedri is out for the rest of the tournament after injuring his knee in the quarterfinals, while defenders Robin Le Normand and Dani Carvajal are suspended.
In the semifinals, Nacho will play centre back alongside Aymeric Laporte and 38-year-old fullback Jesus Navas, the last player of Spain’s golden generation who won the 2010 World Cup and back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2012 in this very tournament, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euros.
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