Before the match, I had written a pre-match analysis of today’s match in sportskeeda site, the link of which I am sharing below.
With reference to that analysis, let me share my take of this quarterfinals match:
- As expected, Uruguay badly missed Cavani in the match. Without him, not only Uruguay lacked potency in its attack, but it made the job of the French team much easier. They just needed to ensure Suarez is blocked and not given any space, which they did successfully
- As expected, France did control the match with quality passing in the midfield, which Uruguay failed to stop for most of the game. This was clear with the French team’s 62% ball possession. Further they played 516 passes with 81% accuracy, whereas Uruguay managed almost 50% of the French numbers (311 passes to be precise) with 64% accuracy
- France played with their now-comfortable 4-2-3-1 formation and Uruguay with their 4-3-1-2 formation. This was quite predictable from both sides. But the quality difference was quite big and that is why Uruguay could not contain France’s midfield
- The pace of the French attack was not at its best, not even close to what they showed against Argentina. However, that was not even required as because of France controlling the game, it was a matter of time when they would have scored.
- Hugo Lloris made a fantastic save, which could have been a goal for Uruguay. That was in high contrast to the mistake of Muslera in Uruguan goal which resulted in France’s second goal. Both of these incidents had a huge impact on the overall outcome of the match. I would rate Lloris’s save as a turning point of the game as whatever little chance Uruguay had today just evaporated with the great save.
Overall, France is looking a balanced side with the potential of going till the end. Time will tell whether they can lift the cup this time or not!
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