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French fans’ expectations of their nationalist squad had been astatine an all-time high: a semi-final connected Bastille Day, Kylian Mbappé a hero, a squad unbeaten. Across nan country, bars had been packed pinch viewers spilling connected to pavements, fresh to ace unfastened nan fireworks up of hopes for nan final.
But nan nighttime was unexpectedly subdued, streets cleared early. On Wednesday morning, nan French media were still digesting nan disappointment of defeat successful a World Cup semi-final, praising Spain’s capacity successful Texas while struggling to comprehend Les Bleus’ autumn from a high.
“Demolished” headlined nan people version of nan French sports insubstantial L’Équipe connected its match report. France’s World Cup escapade “deserved much than this disaster of a game, this disaster of strategy and emotions”, wrote Vincent Duluc. He said France could not moreover kick astir losing because of nan “feeling of hardly really having played, and of betraying nan magic of this American dream”.
Duluc felt nan squad had been physically not up to it, that location were method mistakes and, supra all, nan players had appeared “mentally sunk by nan affectional magnitude of nan match”.
After nan French squad had been placed connected nan highest pedestal for weeks by fans backmost home, Le Monde’s analogous Alexandre Lemarié was saddened. “The autumn to world is arsenic sadistic arsenic it is painful,” nan insubstantial wrote. It was a “cruel disappointment”, peculiarly fixed nan team’s capacity up to now: “A corporate failure.”
This semi-final would beryllium difficult to hide for each nan incorrect reasons, wrote nan analogous for nan location bluish paper, La Voix du Nord, saying it would “remain a nightmare”. Ouest France headlined its beforehand page pinch “The extremity of nan American dream” complete a image of Mbappé pinch his caput successful his hand. “They fell from very, very high,” was written successful Libération.
In Le Figaro, Baptiste Desprez was disheartened but recognised Spain’s skill. “Les Bleus, stifled, pummelled and incapable of 3 passes contempt their committedness from nan commencement of nan competition, faced players stronger than them,” he wrote. “It’s sad. Infuriating. But that’s sport. The strongest won.”
