The orderly approach of Didier Deschamps threatened by the creative energy of Croatia | Jorge Valdano | Soccer



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W Whenever there is a final to be played, you play the difference between the teams, and the one that stands out the most between these two is that France is a product of their coach and of Croatia from their players. It is of course the personality of their managers, but also the maturity of the teams and even their sports education, from where they come.

French players are the sons of an academy that has spent many years focusing on the technical qualities contained in a perfect physical package. The national team consists of Samuel Umtiti, Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, N & # 39; Golo Kanté and Kylian Mbappé, all postcard players, technically talented and enjoying a international prestige.

All individuals, different from each other, none are irrelevant in the team because the coach does not allow anyone to break the structure, and the effort is non-negotiable. Didier Deschamps is a fanatic of the command, one of those coaches who sees no reason why a player does not spend 90 minutes running. All this is reminiscent of an anecdote that highlights the pbadion for the effort that is expanding day by day. One time, Colombian coach Francisco Maturana told Argentinian César Luis Menotti that Carlos Valderrama had spent most of the match on foot, to which Menotti replied: "He will think." I mentioned it to a friend. in Russia, and his response was as expected: "It was different times." I can only deduce that thought has become outmoded. Or, more accurately, that the only person allowed to think is the coach.

A simple example of how the effort enjoys the highest status in the French model: they started with Ousmane Dembélé – agile, skillful with both feet, but little erratic, like any young talent – and it's over with Olivier Giroud, who still has not scored, but who fulfills the first of the 10 sacred commandments of Deschamps: he pursues everything that moves. A good organization, a tremendous pace of work and physical commitment, and an ability to make the most of the plays have come together to give France a competitiveness that has given it confidence. They are the best representative of a pragmatic trend that has emerged in Russia. The only doubt now is how they digest be favorites for the finale.

Croatia is different. They are athletes who play football and offer a different perspective, as if their education allowed them to look beyond football. There is also a nationalistic pbadion with them – growing through the impacts of war – that seems to lead them to seemingly impossible physical feats. They are the proof of this World Cup that the brain can do incredible things with the body. If a team is a state of mind, an emotional state, they are the perfect example.

Against Russia and England, they gave the impression of being at first a tired team, with heavy legs and lacking reflexes. this tank of pride inside each Croatian and their courage seemed to grow as the game went on. They came out of the three periods of emaciated and spent extension, as if they had survived a sinking. Luka Modric, for example, left the field after the England match looking like a tortured soul. But do not worry: he is one of those players who, to recharge, only needs to be plugged into the ball. The ball, meanwhile, is delighted to be connected to the wisest player of the tournament.

Yet it is not the effort that brought them here, or at least not only. These guys take half an hour to understand the game and then they start taking it where they want with a collective intelligence built on the understanding of a game that is not a science but which, like all trades, is full of secrets. They do not seem to have the organization of an army following orders given remotely by a general. Instead, they plug into the game with their own instinct, trying to understand it first and then take control of it. They are an old team in this sense, one in which the players … think! And, as further evidence of their intelligence, no one takes liberties, no one tries anything that their ability does not allow. This is an important point because if it is a sin to deny freedom to a man with abundant talent, it is a risk to give freedom to a man who does not to anyone.

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When it comes to energy, force, France is a formidable team that makes order, discipline and pragmatism prevail, who use their weapons effectively. Their games are not particularly enjoyable for the neutral observer, but they are even less enjoyable for their opponents. However, there is a different kind of energy – a creative energy – which means that Croatia has a chance. A team that will wait for its moment, seeking the weaknesses that the favorites must invariably mark the kind of goal that always psychologically upsets a game. In short, France must win by its ability to physically dominate and tactically calculate, or Croatia to win through the psychological refinery and football intelligence.

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