SAN FRANCISCO, November 14, (THEWILL) – France confirmed their place in the UEFA Nations League Finals at the expense of defending champions Portugal as N’Golo Kante’s second international goal secured a 1-0 win for the French in Lisbon.
The World Cup winners and the European champions were tied on 10 points at the top of Group A3 through four matches, but the head-to-head primary tie-breaker made this clash pivotal after a goalless draw in France.
Kylian Mbappe was left out of the French squad due to a hamstring injury. And, Manchester United striker Anthony Martial who was fielded was wasteful. A little more clinical and Martial might have had a first-half hat-trick.
For his first miss, he ran onto an incisive pass from Antoine Griezmann but was quickly confronted by goalkeeper Rui Patricio. The Wolverhampton Wanderers goalie, who had earlier saved comfortably from Kingsley Coman, blocked Martial’s progress bravely snuffing out the chance.
Again, Martial should have scored as he turned Adrien Rabiot’s wayward acrobatic effort onto the crossbar from four yards, before Patricio made another sublime stop from a close-range attempt.
These wasted opportunities would have proved costly for the French if Portuguese goal-poacher Cristiano Ronaldo was not similarly wasteful. After Bruno Fernandes had picked the forward out with a brilliant corner, he could only power a header over the top on the stroke of half-time.
It was Ronaldo’s failing which would prove most costly following the restart as Patricio spilled Rabiot’s low shot and the unlikely figure of N’Golo Kante pounced to poke into the net.
Portugal went seeking for a leveller and the chance of one fell to Jose Fonte but he was only able to direct an unmarked header onto the post. That happened to be as close as they came to scoring.
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Portuguese talisman Ronaldo was unable to forge a first career goal against France to rescue his side, although he teed up Joao Moutinho for a powerful blast that drew an outstanding save from Hugo Lloris.
Since the painful occasion of losing the Euro 2016 final on home soil to the Portuguese, France had not beaten them. Until Saturday’s fixture. They have now deservedly dumped Fernando Santos’ side out of a tournament they won last time out.
THEWILL believes that that will be particularly satisfying for the French.
In Mbappe’s absence, Griezmann stepped up as France’s chief creator. The Barcelona forward had just one shot, which missed the target, but played three key passes. His gorgeous ball to Martial after 12 minutes deserved a better finish.
France will next face Sweden and Portugal will visit Croatia in the final round of Nations League group games on Tuesday, but the results are now merely academic.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
