Neil Humphreys: World sings Les Bleus
An own goal, an incorrect goal, a catastrophic goal and some great goals mark best final in years
They were singing the right song after all. They were just singing about the wrong country.
| FRANCE | CROATIA |
| 4 | 2 |
| (Mario Mandzukic 18-og, Antoine Griezmann 38-pen, Paul Pogba 59, Kylian Mbappe 65) | (Ivan Perisic 28, Mario Mandzukic 69) |
Football has come home, to France, where the golden trophy really belongs.
The best team at the tournament has won the best tournament in living memory, triumphing in one of the best finals of all time, certainly in terms of incident, entertainment and a bizarre mix of football fantasy and insanity.
Moscow hosted a World Cup final for the ages. The world watched an extraordinary game that was as much Tolkien as it was total football.
There was an own goal, an incorrect goal, a catastrophic goal and some great goals in France's 4-2 win over Croatia. All that was missing was a hobbit and a search for a lost ring.
In the end, there was a white-haired Didier Deschamps completing his long journey for redemption.
Two years of hurt might not compare to the suffering of other nations, but the French coach struggled to get over his unexpected Euro 2016 defeat on home soil.
Russia was a chance for revenge. Moscow was the moment to get that monkey off the back.
Naturally, the mission wasn't straightforward. Nothing has been routine at this wonderfully unpredictable tournament, so why should the final be any different?
France couldn't even take the lead in an orthodox fashion.
The Croats dominated the early exchanges, probing their left flank, with Ivan Strinic and Ivan Perisic doubling up to target Benjamin Pavard.
So the French waited in the shadows like a coiled snake dozing in their own half. A rare chance came. They took it and a familiar French storyline was repeated. At least the ending was original.
Antoine Griezmann whipped a free-kick into the box in the 18th minute and one man rose highest to meet the cross.
Only, the shirt was chequered. So was the thinking.
With a flick of the head, Mario Mandzukic made himself an ignominious World Cup footnote. He scored the first ever own goal in a final.
If Les Bleus' opener was indicative of their pattern of play, then Croatia's sublime equaliser was just as representative of their World Cup efforts.
The goal was inventive, mesmerising and entirely the work of Perisic.
A free-kick dropped to Perisic outside the box in the 28th minute. He took a delicate touch. He cultivated space. He unleashed a thumping shot that no one was saving.
The final's dizzy pendulum swung back towards the underdogs, but their momentum was snatched away by Perisic's errant hand.
In a matter of minutes, he went from hero to villain - or victim, depending on your point of view.
At a corner, his attempt to clear Griezmann's cross led to a disputed handball. VAR intervened. Referee Nestor Pitana watched the replays and pointed to the spot.
Griezmann put away the penalty as the watching world raised a collective eyebrow and asked the same questions.
How was Perisic expected to avoid the ball at such close range? How was that a "clear and obvious error"? The eyes upstairs are instructed to whisper into the referee's earpiece only when they spot a clear and obvious error.
The incident was neither clear nor obvious. The men upstairs should not have intervened and the referee should not have succumbed.
An own goal and a dodgy penalty were no way to settle a World Cup final. Fortunately, gloriously, they were not.
The French saved their best for last. Their decisive third goal was a thing of beauty, started and finished by that galloping thoroughbred.
Paul Pogba was born a superstar at the last World Cup. He was made a superstar in this one.
He steered the ball home with his weaker left foot in the 59th minute and the French celebrations truly began.
Kylian Mbappe wasn't going home without a piece of the party though. As Croatian heads dropped, Mbappe collected the ball 20m out and went on a dance and a dribble before fizzing a low drive home.
The goal came with a double slice of samba. Mbappe became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since a shy, scrawny kid called Pele in 1958. France became the first nation to knock in four in a final since the insouciant Selecao in 1970.
Perhaps the French were just as tired as hearing that England record about Football's Coming Home as everyone else, so they came up with a couple of their own.
Of course, being a somewhat farcical final, there was still time for a comedy turn from Hugo Lloris. The French 'keeper kicked a routine clearance straight to Mandzukic, to give Croatia a little dignity, if not hope.
The plucky, beaten finalists had another consolation. The French had the coveted trophy. And the tournament got the winners it deserved.
From Russia, this really was a final to love.
● Catch Neil Humphreys as he gives his satirical take on life and football every Saturday, from 10am to 12 noon, on Money FM 89.3.
TEAMS:
FRANCE: Hugo Lloris, Benjamin Pavard, Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Hernandez, Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante (Steven N'Zonzi 55), Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Blaise Matuidi (Corentin Tolisso 73), Olivier Giroud (Nabil Fekir 81)
CROATIA: Danijel Subasic, Sime Vrsaljko, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Ivan Strinic (Marko Pjaca 81), Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Rakitic, Ante Rebic (Andrej Kramaric 71), Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Perisic
How France won the final
1) Pogba delivered when it mattered
France's biggest name saved his best for the final. He dominated in midfield, particularly after N'Golo Kante went off in the 55th minute. Four minutes after Kante's substitution, Pogba scored a terrific goal and one he started and finished. He devoured the space in central midfield, playing as if he had finally shaken off the shackles that had handicapped him in the group stages.
2) Tiredness took its toll
In the end, three games going to extra-time in a row took a toll on Luka Modric. Leading up the showpiece, he had run more than anyone else in the tournament (63km).
He played the most passes and made the most through-balls in the Croatia line-up. But he struggled in the final. Pogba played his part, but tiredness proved to be Modric's most formidable opponent.
3) French freedom made difference
After a cautious first half, France were lucky to be ahead. But the younger boys in blue - Pogba and Kylian Mbappe - took the reins and steered France to the Promised Land.
Fast and always positive, Pogba and Mbappe dominated the game's later stages. They were rewarded with goals in a World Cup final.
4) VAR farce helped France
Antoine Griezmann's bizarre penalty revealed a couple of uncomfortable truths about the final. First, many folks are still unfamiliar with VAR's role.
And second, France were gifted a goal they didn't deserve. VAR officials can only ask a referee to watch a replay if they believe a "clear and obvious error" was made. Ivan Perisic's handball wasn't clear and obvious.
So a human error was made upstairs. The referee reviewed the footage and awarded a penalty. That's the second example of human error. It's not the fault of technology. Plus France's goal was entirely against the run of play.
Luckily, Les Bleus scored two more to ensure the final would be remembered for human endeavour, rather than human error. - NEIL HUMPHREYS
FOR MORE Deschamps' men are de champs of de world
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