Let the frenzy take hold

Paul Pogba wanted his own star and 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe wanted to make an everlasting impression on his World Cup debut. Their wishes were granted as France lifted the World Cup with a 4-2 win against Croatia in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

Both Pogba and Mbappe actually settled the fate of the final even before it had progressed to the last quarter, scoring the third and fourth goals respectively in the space of six minutes after the break. Mbappe won the best young player award, an achievement that matched the feat of great Brazilian striker Pele.

For Croatia captain Luka Modric the golden ball was there to proudly aloft. He raised it up amidst thunderous applause from the stands; it was not necessarily only Croatian voices that cheered. But his stony face only portrayed the visage of a heartbroken man who watched from a distance amidst pouring rain as France danced with that glittering piece of glory.

France are deserving winners. True, they were under pressure in the first half and they may have been a bit lucky to win a penalty. But they showed the quality of true champions and mercilessly hit their opponents on the break, which Croatia failed to negotiate.

It was a story of two contrasting halves. Croatia were on the ascendency in the first 45 minutes while it France asserted control after the break. When Argentine referee Nestor Pitana blew the final whistle, the most powerful image was Les Bleus coach Didier Deschamps being toasted by his young charges. Deschamps truly built the bridge after 20 years. He won it in 1998, France's first-ever World Cup triumph. And after the disappointment in the Euro final two years ago when they lost to Portugal, the France legend guaranteed another moment of national pride.

The Luzhniki final saw the first three goals scored every 10 minutes after Mario Mandzukic headed the ball into his own net off an Antoine Griezmann free kick from outside the left-hand box in the 28th minute. Incidentally, it was France's first shot on target, a floater deep into the far post where Croatia's hero of the semifinal against England soared above everybody. It was a header from a class striker that rattled the top left-hand corner, but unfortunately though the Juventus forward was oblivious that he was defending his own goal.

France were lucky to take the lead against the run of play, with Croatia not only starting brightly but also dictating possession. The pall possession ratio of 68-32 in Croatia's favour was reflected in the stands, where the red-and-white stripes overwhelmingly dominated the blues.

Croatia got the deserved equaliser in the 28th minute with Ivan Perisic firing in a scorching left-footer. It was originated from another dead-ball situation after Perisic won a free kick about 35 yards from the French goal. Modric lobbed an intelligent ball wide where Sime Vrsaljko headed it across the penalty area. It dropped for Perisic, who made a little space before unleashing an unstoppable diagonal drive into the bottom right-hand corner.

The third goal came after a lot of deliberation and the referee had to take the assistance of VAR, which ruled Perisic had handled the ball in the forbidden zone. Griezmann was again the initiator with a corner from the same corner flag. N'golo Kante headed it at the near post which struck the stretched hand of Perisic, though unintentionally. Griezmann stepped up to convert the penalty, sending Danijel Subasic the other way.

France went into the lemon break with a fortuitous 2-1 lead. But they returned only to bury the game beyond doubt with Pogba and Mbappe finding the net in the space of six minutes and that too after a pitch invasion by members of Pussy Riot that stopped the final for a few minutes.

Pogba increased the lead in the 59th minute from a rebound after his first attempt was blocked. It was then the turn of Mbappe to become only the second youngest player after Pele to score a goal in the final. The 19-year-old France prodigy drove a spectacular low shot after a little shimmy on the top of the box.

Hugo Lloris's blunder in the 69th minute allowed Croatia to make it 4-2. The France captain unnecessarily waited with the ball before Mandzukic closed in on him and poked the ball into the net as the goalkeeper was trying to cut across him. But that goal served only as a consolation for Croatia, who turned up in their maiden final with great expectations but once against came unstuck against a team they lost 2-0 to in the semifinal 20 years ago.

Brazil will look to start from where they had left off against Serbia when they take on a feisty Mexico in a World Cup round of 16 fixture at the Samara Arena today.

Fresh from their 2-0 win against Serbia, the five-time champions will also try to avoid being another heavyweight casualty from the biggest stage following the departures of holders Germany and Argentina.

They will be up against a team who were primarily responsible for Germany's exit from the group stages with a stunning 1-0 win. Mexico might have failed to carry on their brilliant start -- they suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat against Sweden in the last group game -- but they have shown the ability to get under the skin of big teams.

Brazil coach Tite said that they would start with the same side that won against Serbia. If that is the case then the return of leftback Marcelo to the starting lineup would be delayed. Marcelo, who suffered a back spasm against Costa Rica and was withdrawn in the tenth minute, however, trained with team at the match venue yesterday. A fifteen-minute window was open for journalists to watch the training session, where Tite was seen enjoying target practice -- he was kicking a ball in an attempt to hit another stationary one.

But emerging at the pre-match briefing he said that he was against starting with Marcelo in the stilling heat, where his side might have to play for 120 minutes. The mercury hit 34 degree celsius in Samara and it might soar to 36 on the match day, which will be really demanding for the players. Yesterday was probably the hottest day that we have come across in Russia. And the imposing iron structure gave the impression that a giant crab was moving through the desert in search of the precious drop of water to avoid cram from dehydration.

Tite, however, said that it was about time to step up against a team who have done exceedingly well against Brazil in the recent past. Although Brazil have never lost a World Cup game against Mexico, their last one was a disappointing goalless draw on home soil four years ago.

The Brazil coach also warned that records would not help his side if they could not show a more improved performance at a stage where they could ill-afford any mistake. The Selecao will once again look to Philippe Coutinho to dictate the midfield, Neymar to complete the recovery cycle and the defence manned by Thiago Silva, who attended the briefing too, to stay solid with Miranda against the sharp Mexican attack.

Mexico, who have already earned the nickname of giant-slayers, can enjoy another big sporting moment in their history if they can win.

Croatia captain Luka Modric beat competition from the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, and Eden Hazard to win the golden ball as the best player in the World Cup even as his side lost the final of the showpiece event 4-2 against France.

Modric scored two goals in the group stage and converted both of his attempts in penalty shootouts to help Croatia reach the final. Belgium talisman and captain Hazard, who had been in blazing form throughout this campaign, scoring three goals, was awarded the silver ball while French forward Antoine Griezmann was handed the bronze ball.

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was given the golden glove award for his three clean-sheets, conceeding six goals in seven matches with some excellent saves against Brazil being his showcase performance.

Rain poured down in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow as Modic embraced Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic after being given the award by FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Russia President Vladimir Putin.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said: “He played a terrific tournament which is another commendation for the team which helped to bring about Luka's success. He did the lion share of our play and he was a deserved winner of the Golden Ball.”

Croatia had shown great fight in the first half before a Griezmann penalty handed France the lead again in the second half before they added two more goals.

France's 19-year-old star Kylian Mbappe was named the tournament's Best Young Player after scoring Les Bleus' fourth goal on Sunday, becoming the youngest since Pele in 1958 to find the net in the final.

England captain Harry Kane was confirmed as the Golden Boot winner, his six goals outpacing the four of Griezmann while Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku was named the Bronze boot winner.

While Mbappe, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Russia’s Denis Cheryshev also scored four goals in the competition, but Griezmann bagged two assists while Lukaku had one, which decided their higher ranking in the top-scorers’ list.

After a shock 1-0 defeat against Mexico in their opening game of the World Cup 2018, Germany will be facing Sweden in their second match of the group stage and the defending champions will be looking to seal their first victory in this edition of the football extravaganza. However, Sweden will also look for getting three more points to ensure their place in the second round of the tournament. The match is scheduled to start at 12:00 am in Bangladesh time. Let’s look at some of the statistics ahead of the encounter.

Head-to-head:

1) Germany (or West Germany) are unbeaten in their past 11 games against Sweden (winning six, drawing five), whose last win came against West Germany in April 1978 (3-1).

2) The two most recent matches between these sides have produced a total of 16 goals - with a 4-4 draw in Germany in October 2012 before Sweden lost 5-3 at home in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

3) Germany (or West Germany) have won three of their four World Cup games against Sweden (in 1934, 1974 and 2006), with their only defeat coming in 1958 when Sweden - as host nation - reached the final.

4) That was Sweden's only competitive win against the Germans (with three draws and eight defeats) - their other 11 victories against them came in friendlies.

Germany:

1) Defeat against Mexico in Moscow was only the second time a German side had lost their opener at a World Cup, also losing against Algeria in 1982. However, they reached the final of the competition that year.

2) West Germany lost back-to-back matches at the 1958 World Cup, to Sweden in the semi-final and France in the third-place match, while East Germany lost back-to-back matches to Brazil and the Netherlands in 1974 - but no German side has suffered successive defeats at the finals since.

3) Thomas Muller has scored 10 goals from just 14 shots on target at the World Cup.

4) But Muller was the only outfield Germany player to not register a single shot in their defeat by Mexico and he has not had a shot in his past 239 minutes of World Cup football.

Sweden:

1) Sweden have faced the reigning champions at the World Cup twice before and won both times - in 1950 against Italy and 1958 against West Germany.

2) Their 1-0 win against South Korea was their first in their opening match at a World Cup since beating Mexico 3-0 as hosts in 1958.

3) They also last won consecutive World Cup matches back in 1958 en route to the final.

4) Sweden's goal against South Korea was their first in 402 minutes of international football, since Ola Toivonen scored against Chile back in March.

Click here to see the detail view of the matches of FIFA Wold Cup 2018. 

https://www.thedailystar.net/fifa-world-cup-2018/matches