How do England stop Erling Haaland?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Athletic FC. Hi there and welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Adam Leventhal. So the summer of the superhero striker continues. Imperius Mbappe fires France into the final four, equaling Messi for the golden boot. For Kane and England, it's Norway and their striking Viking next. But how do you stop Haaland? Well, here with me in the studio, we have the Athletics' Liam Toomey. How are you? I'm good, yeah. Excellent. Good to have you here once again. And Keris Jones back again. Ready to go?
Yes, always. Last one. So here we are. We're going to New York and I'm not coming, Adam. You knew that. Oh, right.
Yeah, sorry. Sorry. I feigned surprise, but it is a surprise. But you've been wonderful so far. And let's finish on a high. We will talk England against Norway and Haaland, obviously, to come. But first, the quarterfinals kicked off with France beating Morocco 2-0 in Boston. This is Adam Crafton's take.
So another brilliant France victory. Incredibly comfortable 2-0 winners over Morocco. Kind of as expected, really. If anything, Morocco a little bit disappointing. They just didn't really... land a blow, land a glove even on this France team who just get better and better as the tournament goes on. Mbappe missed a penalty, still scored a fabulous goal to break the deadlock. Dembélé then scores a fantastic goal as well. One concern for France, Mbappe went off looked initially like he might have an injury, sort of went down, raised his arm, lay on the floor, started stretching his right leg, had a bit of ice on his right foot while sitting on the substitutes bench. But by the end of the game, he was giving everyone hugs and cuddles, running over to the fans, dancing, and he said that the injury wasn't too bad.
So you'd expect him to be fit for the semi-final. Spain or Belgium await in Dallas for France. And who's back against them, really, for the final? to win the final. It will take something pretty special or unfortunate. Really, the talent pool is extraordinary. And just defensively as well, no one's really got near them in the knockout stages. Not conceded a goal in the knockouts. Looking very, very ominous.
France, they march on. Indeed they do. And there's a piece on The Athletic right now which you can read, basically asking whether they can be stopped. I'll ask you that question, can they?
I don't think so. Well, I don't think they will be. They can be. Any team can be beaten in a knockout format. And I think if anyone has a chance to take out France, it is Spain.
How did France beat Morocco and is Mbappé fit for the semi-final?
Because of all the remaining teams, Spain have... is a matchup that can be difficult for France in terms of the strength of their midfield. It's the one area of France's team where they essentially have two bodyguards in front of that back four that allows the front four to just go and play. But if Spain are able to keep, and of course, Spain have to get past Belgium, we can't forget. But if they do, they have the ability to keep the ball away from France. I think Spain could only win a close game against France because they have nowhere near as much firepower as this French team do.
What do you think, Keris? I mean, Liam said that any team can be stopped in a knockout game. Do you think that this France team can be?
Yeah, I would put the same caveat as Liam. It's knockout football. Anything can happen. But I've said throughout that to me, they look like the most complete team. That front four are playing with so much kind of freedom. And it's been a real treat to see them all allowed to be on the pitch at the same time. My hope is that Didier Deschamps doesn't get nervous looking at Spain and decide to go for a more cautious approach. I don't think he will necessarily. But that would be my only kind of concern, like what they are doing is working. And I think all the focus has been on their attack and rightly so because of how impressive it's been. But defensively, like that, that sort of midfield duo of Rabiot and either Tumani or Kone has done a really good job of just
shutting down attacks at source like they've not conceded that many shots and that's not necessarily because teams have been poor against them it's equally because of how well they've done shutting down attacks before they get to the point of having a shot on goal so they look really complete they look really threatening
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–2:47
2
How did France beat Morocco and is Mbappé fit for the semi-final?
2:47–7:15
3
Why do pundits believe France might be unstoppable in this World Cup?
7:15–29:00
4
Who is leading the Golden Boot race and could the record be broken?
29:00–38:28
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from The Athletic FC Podcast
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