Izuchukwu OkosiFrance, the defending World Champions, overcame the African challenge posed by an impressive Morocco side to reach the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Below is how the Les Bleus players performed in the game:
GK: Hugo Lloris – 8/10 – Was alive to some really close chances that Morocco had in the game.
RB: Jules Kounde – 7/10 – The new Barcelona defender did not offer much of an attacking threat from his full back role when he was needed to.
Kounde, of Cameroonian descent, made a goal-line clearance.
CB: Raphael Varane – 6/10 – Was decent enough from the back and was easily at home by passing out from the back pretty well.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 7/10 – Stepped in to replace the ill Dayot Upamecano and the Liverpool man was impressive in the way he repeatedly intercepted and cleared the ball.
LB: Theo Hernandez – 7/10 – The left back produced a piece of quality when he steered the home with a superb piece of improvisation. Teammate Olivier Giroud must be proud of that goal.
CM: Aurelien Tchouameni – 7/10 – Passed accurately for the most part and gave a disciplined performance in the middle of the pitch.
READ ALSO: How Morocco Lost To Superior France In World Cup Semifinals
CM: Youssouf Fofana – 7/10 – Thrashed at a decent chance to make it 2-0 and comfortable before it actually was. Missed the target with another good position but carried the ball forward well in the build up to the second French goal.
RM: Ousmane Dembele – 6/10 – Pretty quiet given the decent tournament he’s had. Dembele is married to a Moroccan lady.
AM: Antoine Griezmann – 9/10 – Pulled creative strings from the ‘number 10′ role, including the chance that gave France their early goal. DIdn’t neglect defensive discipline either.
LM: Kylian Mbappe – 8/10 – His pace obviously made him a threat. Looked like he would beat the whole Morocco defence in the move that gave France their killer second.
ST: Olivier Giroud – 7/10 – Hit the outside of the post and also missed the target from a great positon in the first half alone.
Substitutes
SUB: Marcus Thuram (65′ for Giroud) – 6/10
SUB: Randal Kolo Muani (78’ for Dembele) – 7/10
Manager
Didier Deschamps – 8/10 – Forced into changes in defence and midfield from the quarter-final win over England as he missed the likes of Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot. His team’s discipline and clinical nature has got them to another World Cup final.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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