Lamine Yamal scored twice to put Spain in control
Spain overcame a late comeback to beat France 5-4 and earn their place in the UEFA Nations League (UNL) final, as La Roja aim to become the first nation to retain the trophy.
There may not have been an early goal at the MHPArena, but the anticipatory sounds of awe - outside of the boos aimed at Marc Cucurella - offer an insight into how entertaining it was.
That was best encapsulated by Theo Hernandez, who hit one shot over, had an effort blocked and struck the crossbar in addition to deflecting a Lamine Yamal shot wide inside the opening 12 minutes.
Nico Williams and D9sir9 Dou9 both cut inside before seeing their respective curling efforts saved, before Williams went on the outside and hit a shot that was awkwardly stopped by Mike Maignan.
Williams made no mistake from his third opportunity, as Mikel Oyarzabal held off Ibrahima Konate and rolled the ball towards the winger for him to smash it past Maignan to open the scoring in the 22nd minute.
Oyarzabal was the creator again just three minutes later, playing a one-two with Mikel Merino to release the midfielder, who applied a cool finish. Unai Simon did well to deny Doue and Kylian Mbappe despite being unsighted on both occasions as France looked to respond, and the Spanish goalkeeper then got down to palm away Ousmane Dembele’s strike.0
La Roja thought they had a third from a brilliantly inventive free-kick routine before the break, but Dean Huijsen’s volley was ruled out due to a marginal offside call.
Spain - France match stats
Despite a promising start in the second half, Les Bleus found themselves in trouble yet again when Adrien Rabiot brought Yamal down to concede a penalty, which the winger converted by sending Maignan the wrong way.
Almost immediately after, Pedri played the ball to Williams, and got it back from the winger before effortlessly beating Maignan to stretch La Roja’s advantage to four.0
As France stared humiliation in the face, Mbappe won a penalty from Pedro Porro, and fooled Simon from the spot-kick to restore a glimmer of hope for his side.
Doue then came agonisingly close to a French second, but they were dismantled by Yamal again as he held off Clement Lenglet and poked the ball past Maignan for his side’s fifth of the night.
There was a moment for Rayan Cherki to savour as he scored a memorable debut goal with an unstoppable strike. Five minutes later, he slipped the ball through for Malo Gusto to deliver a cross that Dani Vivian diverted into his own net.
Randal Kolo Muani then headed home from Cherki’s cross to set off Spanish nerves, but La Roja survived to extend their unbeaten record to 19 matches in all competitions, and 12 in the UNL to secure their place in the final, where they will face Portugal.
A third-place play-off against Germany awaits Les Bleus, who were also beaten by Spain in the UEFA European Championship semi-final last year.
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