It is impossible to reach a World Cup final without breaking some hearts along the way and for Hugo Lloris it just so happened that one belonged to a friend and team-mate.
Harry Kane’s penalty miss in England’s defeat by Lloris’s France team on Saturday will be the enduring memory of this month in Qatar for Gareth Southgate and his players. For Lloris and France – who face Morocco back at the same Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday night – it already represents just one staging post on a longer journey.
But Tottenham goalkeeper Lloris revealed on Tuesday that he has already been in touch with his Tottenham team-mate.
Harry Kane missed a decisive penalty in England’s World Cup quarter-final defeat by France
Lloris (right, embracing Kane) revealed he sent a consolation text to him after the quarter-final
‘We had a text after the game,’ Lloris said. ‘But it was not easy to find the words straight after the game. I think he needed some rest.
‘It’s a difficult time obviously for the English national team and for Harry but he can be proud for what he’s done for the team during this World Cup.
‘In football history many top players missed important penalties in their career. Players like Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, like Kylian Mbappe. But I have no doubt Harry will keep his chin up and he will help Tottenham and the national team to shine.’
Lloris is Kane’s captain at Tottenham and their match-up at Al Bayt last Saturday was always likely to be one of the defining storylines of their quarter-final. But perhaps nobody saw Kane’s wild penalty miss coming, particularly after he had beaten Lloris comfortably with one earlier in the game.
Lloris had listened as his credentials were called into question by some sections of English support and indeed the media ahead of the game.
Kane went the same side on his second penalty of the game, but got under it and sent it over
Lloris, his Tottenham team-mate, has no doubt he will continue shining for club and country
Now, though, France’s appearance record-holder prepares for his 143rd cap knowing that he has an opportunity to be part of the first team to defend the World Cup since Brazil in 1962. Wednesday night’s opposition will present a different challenge from that of England. Southgate’s team enjoyed more possession than France at the weekend but that will not be the case against a north African side who will sit deep.
Morocco beat Belgium 2-0 in the group stages and then picked off Spain on penalties and beat Portugal 1-0 in the knockout phase. As such, their credentials as an effective counter-attacking team are clear.
‘Obviously it’s already a success for Morocco to be at this stage of the competition,’ said Lloris of a team ranked 22nd in the world.
‘But we know they won’t stop here. They will just want to carry on and become even more heroes for the Moroccan country.
‘I admire and respect what they’ve done here, they owe nothing to chance, they finished top of their group.
‘They have a lot of qualities on and off the pitch, in terms of their cohesion. The environment will be hostile but we’re getting ready calmly. We’ll have to be ready to up our level one more time.
‘In our side, we prepare for the demands of a semi-final of the World Cup, it doesn’t matter who is the opponent.
Kane (right, consoled by Jude Bellingham) now has a week off before returning to club action
‘We just try to put the focus, the energy, the concentration and all of our strength into this game to make sure we will not have any regrets at the end.’
France’s progress to the last four in Qatar has come despite the absence of key players such as Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Karim Benzema. They also lost defender Lucas Hernandez to a knee injury suffered in their opening game against Australia.
Despite this, they have been arguably the best team of the competition. Their defeat in their final group game against Tunisia came after coach Didier Deschamps fielded a virtual reserve side. That was followed by a last-16 victory over Poland and the triumph over England that followed.
On Wednesday they will be backed by a French following numbering only a few thousand. The rest of the 69,000-capacity stadium will be largely Moroccan.
‘They’re benefiting from a huge support,’ said Deschamps. ‘I’ve seen this and my staff have told me about it. We know it’s going to be extremely noisy, it’s part of the context and we’ll have to be ready for it.
‘Good for them. We have to prepare for the game, but also for the environment of the game. We know that. We want to have the ball to create danger. We won’t abandon possession, but when we will have the ball we’re going to have to make it count.’