In this episode, Santiago Leon and Hal Phillips preview the World Cup semifinals: Argentina vs Croatia & France vs Morocco.
Contributors
Santiago Leon – @sleon
Hal Phillips – @mandarinhal
Gio Reyna story
Just over a week after the United States’ men’s national team was eliminated from the World Cup we finally have some clarity as to why Gio Reyna only logged 52 minutes on the field during USMNT’s path to a round of 16 exit.
In remarks at the HOW Institute for Society’s Summit on Moral Leadership later published by Charterworks (and which U.S. Soccer claims were supposed to be off the record), USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter spoke about an unnamed player who he says had commitment issues.
“In this last World Cup, we had a player that was clearly not meeting expectations on and off the field,” Berhalter said. “One of 26 players, so it stood out. As a staff, we sat together for hours deliberating what we were going to do with this player. We were ready to book a plane ticket home, that’s how extreme it was. And what it came down to was, we’re going to have one more conversation with him, and part of the conversation was how we’re going to behave from here out. There aren’t going to be any more infractions.”
According to the Athletic, those comments referred to Reyna who showed a lack of effort in training prior to the opening match of the tournament against Wales which led to his limited playing time. It hit a peak when Reyna, was an unused sub against Wales, threw his shin guards after not getting into the game.
Multiple sources close to the U.S. men’s national team have provided details to The Athletic that help explain attacker Gio Reyna’s lack of involvement at the World Cup.
The sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, said that Reyna showed an alarming lack of effort in training ahead of the U.S.’s opening match of the tournament against Wales on Nov. 21, including in a scrimmage against Qatari club Al Gharafa SC on Nov. 17. Reyna’s lack of intensity in the scrimmage — sources described him walking around throughout his time on the field during what was otherwise an intense session — caused significant frustration within the team. The lack of effort was so pronounced that it was unclear whether Reyna was protecting against an injury or just frustrated that he was not set to be a starter against Wales.
ENG 1 FRA 2
France are through to the semi-finals of the World Cup after a 2-1 win over England. The holders broke the deadlock in the 17th minute through Tchouameni’s long-range strike into the bottom corner. England made a bright start to the second half, though, and were awarded a penalty after Saka was tripped, and Kane fired it into the back of the net. Giroud restored France’s lead in the 78th minute with a header from close range and the Three Lions had another chance to equalise from the spot, but Kane blazed that one high over the bar.
France will face Morocco in the semi-final on Wednesday as they edge closer to completing a successful title defence.
Goals
Tchouameni (1-0) 17’
Harry Kane (1-1) 54’
Giroud (1-2) 78’
MAR 1 POR 0
History is written, as Morocco become Africa’s first World Cup semi-finalists by bravely beating Portugal in Al Thumama. Defending relentlessly and exhibiting great skill on the break, the Atlas Lions roar into the final four thanks to En-Nesyri’s magnificent first-half header. Even with several injuries to contend with, they delight their hordes of noisy fans, and having eliminated Belgium, Spain and now Portugal, a high-stakes clash France awaits.
The latest member of the European establishment to become victims of Morocco at these finals, Portugal painfully exit the World Cup. While surely bringing the curtain down on the international careers of Pepe and Ronaldo, their new generation has at least shown enough promise to target victory at Euro 2024. Meanwhile, their quarter-final conquerors march on!
Goal by Youssef En0Nesyri
PREVIEW
Argentina vs Croatia
This is the third World Cup head-to-head between Argentina and Croatia, and first match-up in the knockout stages. Argentina won 1-0 in 1998, before Croatia’s 3-0 win in the 2018 edition in Russia.
This will be Croatia’s first World Cup 2022 game at the Lusail Iconic Stadium
Borna Sosa was key against Brazil, keeping Premier League pair Raphinha and then Antony quiet down Croatia’s left side, and the full-back has every confidence this team can go the distance.
Argentina two players that will certainly be missing for Argentina are the suspended Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna, while there are injury worries surrounding the integral Rodrigo de Paul.
Both teams reached this stage following a penalty shootout victory in the last round, and the pair can be confident that they have two goalkeepers with form for stopping the opposition from the spot.
France vs Morocco
Players to watch: goalkeeper Yassine Bounou
France enter the final four without any fresh injury or suspension concerns to contend with, although some felt that Theo Hernandez’s barge on Mason Mount for Kane’s second spot kick warranted more than just a yellow card.
The Bleus XI picks itself at this point, with Jules Kounde firmly ousting Benjamin Pavard in the right-back position and Theo Hernandez doing a competent job in the absence of his stricken brother Lucas Hernandez, who suffered a torn ACL in their opening match with Australia.
France’s all-time leading male goalscorer Giroud could become the oldest player in history to score five goals in a single World Cup should he make the net ripple here, and while Kylian Mbappe was kept relatively quiet by England, Les Bleus have now won all 10 World Cup games in which the 23-year-old has started.
Meanwhile, Morocco striker Walid Cheddira received two yellow cards in quick succession against Portugal and will be suspended for the semi-final, but the 24-year-old was never expected to push for a starting berth.
West Ham United’s Aguerd missed the quarter-final win over Portugal after sustaining an adductor injury against France in the last 16, but Regragui will pull out all the stops to have him available after Romain Saiss had to be stretchered off on Saturday due to an ongoing hamstring issue.
Saiss has affirmed that he will do everything in his power to be fit for the semi-final, where Mazraoui could also force his way back into the fray from a hip flexor problem, and Hakim Ziyech will expect to be fine despite also being forced off over the weekend.
PREDICTIONS
ARG-HRV
AS: ARG 2-1
FRA-MAR
AS: 3-1
Santiago Leon is the Founder and CEO of the Sports Cast. He covers NFL, NBA, and world soccer. He’s also founder of sleon productions, which he specializes in technology and serves clients with solutions to make their business grow.
