Artem Frankov: "England - France will also end with a penalty shootout"

Well-known Ukrainian journalist Artem Frankov told what he expects from one of the matches of the 1/4 finals of the 2022 World Cup, in which England and France will play today.

“Bookmakers give a slight, but still preference to the French. The epidemic of injuries in their camp, which would have knocked down any other team (Kante, Pogba, Benzema, Menan, Nkunku, etc.), completely impressed, did not affect the combat capability of Le Bleu at all. On the contrary, it forced them to rally. The attacking triangle Griezmann-Giroud-Mbappe (Dembele on a stand-in) looks extremely formidable, and Kylian, as if inspired by the aging pictures of world football leaders, expressively intended to take not only the Golden Boot, but also the World Cup Golden Ball.

In addition, the British are not inferior to the French in any link, except perhaps in defense (Maguire!). They have their own magnificent attack Sack - Kane - Foden, in which Sterling turned out to be completely superfluous (he referred to the robbery of his house in Oxshot and hit the road to his homeland; but he returned!), but Rushford was excellent as a substitute, his amazing midfield led by Bellingham .

An unequivocal argument in favor of the Gauls is that they went through a much more difficult path at this World Cup (Australia, Denmark, Poland), which is clearly more striking than English (Iran, Wales, Senegal). On the other hand, the champion of Africa, defeated by the ancestors in the 1/8 finals, is at least no weaker than any of France's rivals!

Oh... I propose to take into account that the French in each of their four matches at the 2022 World Cup constantly conceded one goal and take this for granted. The second obvious factor is that the British are rather slow to harness, no matter how fast they drive afterwards. And the third, vague reflection: sometimes, and even quite often, the confrontation between two brilliant attacks turns into an extremely cautious and gloomy game.

My prediction: both will score and there will be a series of 11-meter shots, ”said Frankov.