That's how some things change in football. When Germany knocked out France in the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup, Matt Hummels was the only goal scorer of the game. That night in Rio de Janeiro, it was the German defender who broke French hearts despite dominating the game at Les Blaes and creating great chances.
Seven years later in Munich, the German centre-back scored again, this time in his own goal, giving France this time the gift of both countries' 1-0 victory in the Euro 2020 opener on Tuesday.
However, some things remain the same in football as well. To begin with, this 2021 France side looks like a World Cup winner from 2018. And this performance against Germany was a performance similar to their semi-final win against Die Manschaft at Euro 2016 in Marseille.
While this time the scoreline was just 1-0 compared to 2-0 in Marseille, as they were in 2016 and 2018, this French side is very disciplined tactically and defensively (to practically finish the game on the right). Kudos to Antoine Griezmann) , controls matches with a key midfield, and as he did in 2018, he has the final X Factor in forward Kylian Mbappe, who consistently played for Joachim Low's side on Tuesday night. opened up.
If we didn't really know what to expect from this Germany before kick-off, we knew what France would deliver. He did exactly what was written on the tin. They suffer sometimes, and make no mistake, this is a good German team, but they never broke. In fact, they never even appeared to break. The world champion is like a hunter waiting for his prey, and as we have seen over the years, the hunter knows exactly when to attack.
"It was such a strong performance," Didier Deschamps said after the game. "We fought hard. We could have done better with the ball in our buildup, but it was a very solid performance." Deschamps was later delighted in the dressing room, congratulating his players on an impressive victory that would make France an even bigger favorite to win the tournament.
When you have a midfield like France, it becomes very easy to perform like this. There has been a lot of talk, and rightly so, about France's front three Mbappe, Karim Benzema and Griezmann, which is undoubtedly a scary proposition for any defense. But what about the Paul Pogba-N'Golo Kante-Adrian Rabiot trio? There has never been a better midfield in this match. They are so good at everything they do, complement each other, and each plays their part so well.
France also got great help from Germany. Deschamps was hoping Lou would play Joshua Kimmich at right wing-back and not in midfield as it would be easier for his players to control the game like he did. The Frenchman couldn't believe the best holding midfielder in the world wasn't playing as a holding midfielder for his country at Euros!
So the midfield belonged to France, and that's where they won the game. Thorns were everywhere again. Rabiot so clever and deftly intelligent, and precious under pressure. And then, you have Pogba. It was Vintage Pogba, 2018 Pogba, or maybe even better Pogba. What a performance!
"It's such a strong collective victory. We're so focused and so efficient. We all work hard for each other. We're humble on the pitch and we suffer together," said the Manchester United star, who followed it up Complained to the referee. It appears he was bitten in the back by defender Antonio Rudiger at the end of the first half.
Pogba was rightfully named Man of the Match, and not just because of his exceptional involvement in the goal. We've seen great moments in this tournament so far - England midfielder Kelvin Phillips scoring a goal ahead of Raheem Sterling, Czech Republic's Patrick Schick scoring a surprise goal from midfield against Scotland - and we've seen the tournament pass by Pogba so far. From. An incredible moment of inspiration and brilliance with a half-toe/half-outside switch from right to left for Lucas Hernandez, whose latter cross was deflected into his own net by Hummels. It was part of a perfect performance from Pogba, who made 12 recoveries, won 13 doubles, drew four fouls, was robbed of an assist due to an offside decision and was later ruled out by Benzema. "Hockey Assist". Out for offside.
One goal that stood out was such a massive collective goal because that is exactly what France aimed to do. Before the game, the plan was to push in favor of Kimmich, as the Bayern Munich midfielder is no longer used to playing there. Deschamps knew there would be opportunities to exploit and was aiming to begin with.
Meanwhile, Kimmich struggled against Mbappe throughout the game. Despite touching the ball only 35 times, the Frenchman was in top form, the lowest tally of 22 starters. If you thought the incident with Olivier Giroud would have any effect on him, we saw tonight that the answer was clearly no. His bullying part behind Hummels was a major reason for his own aim; He later scored a brilliant goal that was rejected for offside, and then he was offside again, this time by the narrowest margin, before setting up Karim Benzema for a goal dismissed by VAR. It doesn't even account for the wonderful ball he played to put Rabiot, who hit the post, or the fact that he could have pulled a penalty on any other occasion.
In 2016 and 2018, France began their tournaments very slowly, against Romania and Australia respectively. This time, they are already in command and impressive, yet have some gear left.
"Tactical discipline is very important in a game like this. We were so strong tactically tonight - we showed great stuff," Rabiot said. "We are happy. We were the last team to play and we had to send a message to the other teams. We had to show that we are not world champions for no reason."
Tonight, that message was received loud and clear.