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SAINT PETERSBURG: France will unleash the offensive talents of Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann against the talented Belgian team of Eden Hazard in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday with a place in the final of the World Cup at stake.
European neighbors announce full intrigues as France aims to return to the finals for the first time since a team led by Zinedine Zidane did it in Germany in 2006.
Belgium will seek to innovate by reaching the final for the first time in their history – indeed, they reached the semi-finals only in 1986.
The winner will face the Croatia or England, which plays Wednesday, at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday. Eden Hazard pulls the strings and Romelu Lukaku provides the firepower, Belgium has what it takes to beat France.
But their secret weapon could be sidelined in the shape of one of the greatest French players of all time, Thi Henry, who is now head coach Roberto Martinez
L & # 39, former striker Arsenal and Barcelona was part of the French team that won the World Cup at home 20 years ago and played 123 times for his country.
Now it is his duty to stop the race of his native country.
"He will feel divided loyalties tomorrow," French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said Monday.
"He is first and foremost French, but tomorrow, professionally, he will put all the pbadion that drives him into the Belgian team."
The Belgian Kevin De Bruyne declared that Henry had said little about his feelings
"Maybe he will sing the Marseillaise?" (Before the match), which I think is normal, "said De Bruyne.
"It could be a bit difficult for him but he is working for Belgium now, he wants us to win."
After eliminating the Brazilian from Neymar in the quarterfinals, he is the only team to have won all his matches in Russia, with 14 goals scored.
Didier Deschamps's France did not shoot in the group matches but exploded Life in the 4-3 demolition of Argentina as Mbappe overshadowed Lionel Messi and announced his arrival as a New superstar of the game.
The French then showed their steel in the 2-0 layout of Luis Suarez and Uruguay in the quarter-finals.
France is favorite because of their mix of youth and experience allied to us tournament after reaching the final of Euro 2016.
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While many English fans are surprised by the team's progress, midfielder Dele Alli says that the team always thought they could go far
"We had to believe and we know how talented we are as a team," he said. "We know we have incredible players and a good manager and everyone knows what we want to do."
"When you have a solid foundation, you have the basics and the clear understanding of what we want to do and achieve, it's not a surprise that it's going well for us."
Southgate told his players that they have the potential to be even bigger heroes than the team with Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton who take it home in 1966.
The captain Harry Kane leads the charge of England with six goals to date, which places him ahead of the race for the Golden Boot. Lukaku has four goals and Griezmann and Mbappe each have three goals.
Croatia can count on Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, three times in Russia, but teammate Andrej Kramaric believes the lack of superstars in England "England was one of the favorites for me for the tournament because they have a young and hungry team, without big international stars, so it will not be easy for us. "
Croatia may well be fighting fatigue and injuries after a penalty shootout penalty shootout to supplant Russia's host nation on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and right-back Sime Vrsaljko, both injured against Russia, and central defender Dejan Lovren were all absent from the open session.
Croatia banned former international Ognjen Vukojevic from their delegation on Monday for posting a pro-Ukrainian video clip following the victory over Russia. He was also fined by FIFA.
Defender Domagoj Vida escaped with only a warning from FIFA, which banned political statements, for also appearing in the video and shouting "Glory to Ukraine!"
Agence France-Presse
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