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The quarter-final meeting will put Mbappe in the cross-hairs of the English defence. It will allow more freedom for Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann to exploit the Three Lions’ backline.
While all eyes will be on the PSG star, Giroud has silently become France’s all-time top scorer. Out of the three, only Griezmann has continued to work tirelessly in the shadows. Against England, he will be playing his 72nd successive fixture for Les Bleus.
Despite not boasting a greater goal-scoring record, Gareth Southgate should surely have plans for him. The Atletico Madrid ace has a habit of scoring in clutch moments and troubles the opposition by picking up the space behind them.
Kieran Trippier knows first-hand of tackling the Frenchman as he shared the dressing room with him at the Estadio Metropolitano and were neighbours in Madrid.
“I didn’t even know that,” the England right-back said when told of that run. “I was lucky to play with him. [He’s] experienced. You see his talent throughout his career and when you play with him you see his individual talent.
“He picks up spaces. He scores goals as well. He is one of those when even in training he is clever where he picks up space. He just drifts and is certainly a player to keep an eye on. He has the individual quality to find a pass, score a goal and arrive in the box.
“Griezy is a fantastic player, and one we have to be aware of.”
71 consecutive appearances.
Antoine Griezmann will break a France record against Poland—he hasn’t missed a game since 2017 👏 pic.twitter.com/lsXzxcLdba
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 4, 2022
Tournament experience will help England
To the surprise of many, Gareth Southgate led the Three Lions to the semi-finals in Russia. In their next international meet, the UEFA Nations League, they lost out in the semi-finals again. They lived up to the billing again at Euro 2020, reaching the finals of the competition as they came second to Italy.
While the Italians could not book a ticket to Qatar, England have gone strength to strength. The accumulated tournament experience is showing with the Three Lions improving with every fixture.
As it stands, they have the highest goalscoring tally at the World Cup. At the back, they have only conceded twice, the least of the remaining sides. Moreover, they arrive at the quarter-final with three successive clean sheets.
Trippier has seen a shift in the mentality of the English players and attributes it to their strong showings. He pointed at the experience of players, who didn’t have high-pressure knockout experience before their adventures in Russia but have plenty to show for now.
Kieran Trippier is world class.
A thread.
First off lets set out what I view as world class. For me if you are top 5 in your position in the world, that is world class. I think Trippier is top 5 for me & no he is not the best English RB that is Reece.(1/9) pic.twitter.com/L5MbPlQXBO
— How We Roll Eoghan (@HowWeRollEoghan) December 6, 2022
“If you go back to Russia, it was my first tournament and a lot of the players’ first tournaments as well,” the Newcastle defender remarked. “Four years later, you can see the experienced individuals we have got. They’ve played in big finals or they’ve played abroad. You can see in the young players now a big shift.
“We got to a semi-final, the Nations League (semi-final) and then the final of the Euros. Of course, we shouldn’t be ashamed to say we want to win the World Cup. But we need to take it one game at a time, respect our opposition – that’s a given – and we know we’ve got a tough task ahead of us. But we’ll be ready.”
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