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France and Kylian Mbappe are headed back to the World Cup final for a much-anticipated match-up with Lionel Messi after ending Morocco’s historic run.
French players celebrate their semi-final win.Credit: AP
France beat Africa’s first-ever semi-finalist 2-0, with Mbappe playing a part in goals by Theo Hernandez in the fifth minute and then substitute Randal Kolo Muani in the 79th.
Read the full story here.
That’s where we’ll leave it for today. An absolute dream final awaits on Monday morning. Almost as exciting, a return to normal sleeping patterns.
After all the talk, on the pitch at least, it’s been a sensational tournament. And maybe, just maybe, the best is yet to come.
The celebrations will run well into the night in Paris.Credit: AP
Until then, stay tuned for all the news in the lead-up to the France-Argentina clash, and indeed the rest of Australia’s best sporting news and analysis.
Thanks for reading over the past few weeks. It’s been a blast.
And yes, I’ll go there. Vamos Argentina. Do it for the great man. And to prove sports editor Ben Coady wrong, who last week took to TikTok to declare there are no fairytales in World Cups.
Bring it home.
France’s Antoine Griezmann proved once again that he is the ultimate team player with another virtuoso performance to help guide his team to a second consecutive World Cup final.
The Atletico Madrid forward has not scored a single goal at the World Cup in Qatar but has created several chances while also dropping deep and breaking up play.
Antoine Griezmann (right) celebrates with Olivier Giroud.Credit: AP
Paul Pogba even suggested on Instagram that Griezmann was playing like France’s injured all-action defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante after another all-round performance against Morocco which earned the forward the man-of-the-match award.
“I feel good in my legs, in my mind... The work I did on vacation and later with Atleti did me good, it was what I needed. I try to help the team as much as possible, as always,” Griezmann said.
“Morocco impressed me tonight, they set up very well tactically and defensively. In the second half they created a lot of opportunities.”
Victory set up a mouth-watering final with Lionel Messi’s Argentina, which will take place at Lusail Stadium on Sunday.
“Any team with Messi is a different proposition. We’ve seen Argentina play, we know how they play, they’re a difficult team to play and they’re in top form,” Griezmann said.
“We can make history but there is still a very long way to go, 90 minutes or more. You have to keep your feet on the ground.”
Reuters
Chelsea forward Armando Broja will miss the rest of the season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture that requires surgery, the London club said on Wednesday.
Broja picked up the injury in Chelsea’s 1-0 friendly defeat by Aston Villa at the weekend, adding to manager Graham Potter’s problems in attack ahead of the Premier League restart.
The Albania international, who has made 12 league appearances this season, including two starts, was forced off early in the friendly in Abu Dhabi after colliding with Villa defender Ezri Konsa.
“Having sustained a knee injury during the first half of Sunday’s friendly against Aston Villa, Armando underwent further assessment following the club’s return to England,” the club said.
Chelsea face Bournemouth at 4.30am (Sydney time) on December 28. The Premier League resumes late on Boxing Day with Brentford hosting Tottenham at 11.30pm.
Reuters
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told players of his Monza team he would bring prostitutes into their locker room if they managed to beat again a top Serie A rival, a video published on social media showed on Wednesday.
Berlusconi, who often uses colourful language, was accused in 2011 of having sex with an underage prostitute at one of his infamous ‘bunga bunga’ parties. He was acquitted on appeal in 2015 after a judge ruled he had not known she was a minor.
Silvio Berlusconi.Credit: AP
“I told the guys ... now you will play Milan, Juventus. If you win against one of these top teams, I’ll bring a bus of whores into the locker room,” Berlusconi, 86, said in a video recorded at a Tuesday Christmas dinner with the Monza players.
Daniela Sbrollini, a female senator from the centrist opposition Italia Viva party, called it the “usual misogynist language from Berlusconi: a joke in bad taste that leaves you speechless”.
Monza was promoted to Serie A for the first time last season and defeated Juventus in September. They will play Inter and Juventus again in January and will face Berlusconi’s old club AC Milan in February.
Reuters
It’s the story of a final full of them. The French wunderkind on the verge of winning a second World Cup the day before he turns 24. The 35-year-old veteran, for whom finally lifting the trophy would surely cement his status as the greatest of them all. Teammates at Paris Saint-Germain, who in just a few months will be linking up to break another drought in the Champions League.
Here’s how Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi stack up in Qatar so far.
A security guard died after suffering a fall at a World Cup stadium in Qatar, tournament organisers said.
The Supreme Committee said that John Njau Kibue fell at Lusail Stadium on Saturday. He was taken to hospital and put in intensive care but died on Tuesday, organisers said in a statement. The security staff at stadiums is largely made up of migrant workers, particularly from Kenya and other African nations. The Supreme Committee did not specify Kibue’s nationality.
His family was informed and the organisers “are investigating the circumstances leading to the fall as a matter of urgency,” the committee said.
There was no match at Lusail Stadium on Saturday. The venue will host the final on Sunday (Monday AEDT) between Argentina and France.
AP
The A-League should be basking in a post-World Cup afterglow but is instead engulfed in anarchy.
The next three A-League grand finals for men and women will be held in Sydney - if the competition survives that long.Credit: Getty
The decision to award hosting rights for the next three men’s and women’s grand finals to NSW, instead of the highest-ranked team, threatens the very future of the competition, writes Vince Rugari.
Read the full piece here.
France and Kylian Mbappe are headed back to the World Cup final for a much-anticipated match-up with Lionel Messi after ending Morocco’s historic run.
French players celebrate their semi-final win.Credit: AP
France beat Africa’s first-ever semi-finalist 2-0, with Mbappe playing a part in goals by Theo Hernandez in the fifth minute and then substitute Randal Kolo Muani in the 79th.
Read the full story here.
I alluded to it in the comments yesterday, but the two teams who beat Australia in Qatar have both made it to the final. It’s been a tough run for the Socceroos at World Cups — the drought-breaking 2006 tournament saw defending champions Brazil in their group. Eight years later it was both the 2010 finalists: Spain and the Netherlands. Four years ago they faced eventual winners France first-up, and of course this time the same thing happened to kick off their campaign last month.
Tough break.
The solution? Host the thing!
Here’s how Argentina and France made their way to the biggest game of them all.