Without joy, France and Argentina face off for 1st place in the quarter-finals

Ciro Campos, special correspondent / starts this Saturday with the meeting of two teams who reached this stage without being enchanted. In Kazan, at 11:00 GMT, France is trying to get out of the promises board and avenge the young team against Argentina, qualified for the stage after a rough first leg, with a 3-0 defeat in Croatia and

The French and Argentineans are also trying to raise their main players in this phase of knockout. The Europeans have seen the Griezmann score once and, from penalty shoot-outs, in this Cup. The attacker has been replaced in all three games. Messi has also conceded a goal and Iceland has again lost a penalty. Their performances are well below the potential of the duo, who was finalist in 2016 for the title of FIFA World Player of the Year.

"Griezmann's departure was a bit difficult, it was good for him to gain some rhythm, the team needs him at the highest level, I think he will evolve now" says coach Didier Deschamps. His fears are the young French team, with an average age of 26 and 14 beginners in the Cup, feeling the weight of the decisive match against an experienced Argentina.

France won in the group stage of Australia and Peru without enchantment, with lean scores. Then they defended the 0-0 draw against Denmark before being placed in the group and continuing without convincing the fans and the local press. "The goal was reached and we were first in the group, of course we could have done better, but there is room for improvement, we have ambition and we want to continue," said goalkeeper Hugo Lloris

in his fourth World Cup, carries even more responsibility for the team. The captain range is not enough, he is almost a second coach for which coach Jorge Sampaoli is asking for suggestions for changes. A possible change for the game is the presence of the shirt 10 as the central striker and the departure of Higuaín from the team.

"Lionel has so much quality to see football that can see things that only a genius notes." It takes time to understand what he thinks, "said Sampaoli. Barcelona maintains the suspense if he continues to play for Argentina after the World Cup.In 2016 he announced goodbye, but returned.

The opponents have different proposals in badyzing the game. France prefers not to place any responsibility on Griezmann and to remember the role of other stars such as Pogba, Giroud and Mbappé.Africa is the opposite.Its addiction is complete.We have a great leader in the field, not just in the technical part, "said Banega," at any time, Messi only thinks to win. "