Through out the build up between England against France , the whole news was on England stopping Kylian Mbappe on his tracks, however , stopping him unleashed the little magician, Antoine Greizmann.
Gareth Southgate’s men found the answer to that particular poser but failed to account for Antoine Griezmann’s brilliance in a 2-1 French win as he became his nation’s all-time top assist provider with 28.
The direct threat of Mbappe’s pace cannot be linked to the creative talents of the Atletico Madrid man and his ability to keep Olivier Giroud supplied.
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It was Griezmann who teed up both Aurelien Tchouameni and the AC Milan target man at Al Bayt Stadium and almost singlehandedly put Les Bleus into next week’s semifinal against Morocco.
The Athletico Madrid star now has the highest assist for the French team beating Thiery Henry all time record of 27.
𝐺𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑧𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 😌⚽️
With the assist for Tchouaméni's goal, @AntoGriezmann joins Thierry Henry at the top of the all-time assists chart with 27 🙌
🏴0-1🇫🇷 | #ENGFRA | #FiersdetreBleus 😌⚽️ pic.twitter.com/g2JAMpSgbk
— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) December 10, 2022
However, it was not only the 31-year-old’s creativity that came to the fore against the English — it was a more complete version of Griezmann with a greater tenacious streak than ever.
He did pull the strings going forward and boasted 100% first-half pass completion but he also got involved physically when the midfield were starting to get overrun which helped to turn the tide.
Antoine Griezmann’s brought the Athletico Madrid rigidity and strenght and approach to the game where he gave his England counterparts the sort of physical battle that not many expected from such a diminutive figure.
He kept on hunting for the balls as it wasn’t so surprising that he applied the most pressure through out the game.
Didier Deschamps has been working with him on that part of his game since their arrival in Qatar and it paid off here and will be important again in the Morocco clash.
