‘He was man of the match for me’: Alan Shearer heaps praise on Antoine Griezmann after France’s 2-0 win over Morocco in their World Cup semi final, while Rio Ferdinand labels the midfielder ‘the best defensive player in the tournament’
Antoine Griezmann was at the centre of the BBC pundits’ praise on Wednesday night after a sensational performance in France’s 2-0 win over a brave Morocco side in their World Cup semi-final.
The midfielder produced a brilliantly elusive run to set up France’s first goal after just five minutes, and was a menace for the Atlas Lions all evening as he continued to excel in a more combative role than he has often played.
Alan Shearer felt Griezmann was he best player on the pitch, as he explained: ‘he was man of the match for me. You’ve got to give credit to the way Didier Deschamps has used him.
Antoine Griezmann was a vital cog in France’s win over Morocco in their World Cup semi final
Alan Shearer called him ‘man of the match’ after his ‘fantastic’ defensive work in the 2-0 win
‘He’s a super talent, a really clever player who reads the game really well. When you think of the players they’ve got missing, him and Aurelien Tchouameni were fantastic on the defensive work.’
Didier Drogba was also impressed by the changes Griezmann had made to play a deeper role, saying he ‘looked more like N’Golo Kante’, but was still able to move like a true forward as ‘it’s like cycling, you never forget it!’
There was also praise for the 31-year-old from Rio Ferdinand, who called him ‘the best defensive player in the tournament’ before adding: ‘We could show great clips of him getting forward and creating things but we can probably show you as many clips of his defending.’
Griezmann produced a wonderfully elusive run to set up the first goal for Theo Hernandez
Rio Ferdinand labelled the midfielder ‘the best defensive player in the tournament’
It has been a remarkable tournament for Griezmann giving his peculiar club situation, which has seen him playing just 30 minutes in each game as Atletico Madrid look to avoid triggering a sell-on clause in his contract.
With their star midfielder pulling strings behind an explosive front three, France will face Argentina in the final on Sunday.
It may be billed as a chance for Lionel Messi to confirm his status as the greatest player in history, but the game will also be a chance for the champions to become just the second side in history to win back to back World Cups.
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