World Cup 2018: Why France deserved their second star

An own goal and a contentious penalty are hardly the stuff of champions but those two incidents decided the World Cup final. A headed goal from a set piece by a central defender decided the semi-final. A goalkeeping error gave France breathing room in the quarters, which was preceded by two narrow wins against much weaker sides and the only 0-0 draw of the tournament at the group stage. Hardly the stuff of champions.

The question of 'did they deserve it' or 'did they do enough' is something that can never really be answered because there is only one right answer and no one wants to admit it. It's an easy answer. France deserved it because they won it. They did enough because they won. They scored more than their opponents in 6 out of the 7 games they played. So yes, they deserved it.

Then why the criticism? To put it simply, the efficiency with which the French side managed their games was borderline infuriating for the neutrals let alone their opponents. Chelsea teammates Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois' comments post the semi-final are tangible proof of the distaste. They said France played 'anti-football'; despite having played the same counter-attacking game against Belgium a few days ago.

The tactics were simplistic to say the least. They played to their strengths. Here's a three-step summarization of France's approach.

Step 1

Score early: France were the first to score in all 6 (0-0 draw with Denmark) of the matches they scored in. They scored first, doesn't matter how. They went ahead from a set piece in 5 of those 6 matches.

Step 2

Defend with 8 men behind the ball: France only went behind in one game; the 4-3 round of 16 win over Lionel Messi and Co. Even Griezmann made 10 tackles and interceptions in the tournament as a 'center forward'.

Step 3

Counter Attack: The sight of Mbappe leaving Argentina's defense eating dirt was arguably one of the best moments of the World Cup. A simple pass and he was off.

But with all the attacking talent in the second youngest team at the World Cup, how was this the best solution? Well, it played to their strengths.

The defense toiled game after game with both Varane and Umtiti (barring that amusing handball) having the best few games of their careers so far. The fullbacks were excellent in both defense and attack despite both Benjamin Pavard playing as a center-back at the club level.

In N'Golo Kante, Les Bleus have the worlds best 'destroyer', cutting off passes and shielding the defense. He made 15 tackles and 20 interceptions, in 7 games.

They have Paul Pogba producing sublime passes the peach of which lead to his goal in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium. The first French goal of the tournament, Griezmann's penalty also came as a result of Pogba picking a pass.

They have Giroud winning so many aerial duels, bringing Mbappe and Griezmann into the game.

Bringing us to the most important cog in the wheel, Mbappe with his frightening pace was the perfect outlet, dragging otherwise solid defenses out of shape. Add to that the fact that the opposition was almost always behind, leaving so much space in behind for the speedster.

But arguably more important to the team was Griezmann. He took to Deschamps' strategy like a dove to water. It probably helped that Atletico Madrid play a very very similar style. Griezmann dictated the tempo of the games, knew when to drive forward and when to slow the game down.

His set pieces were inch perfect barring perhaps the freekick against Argentina, which hit the bar and probably left Armani (GK) quacking in his boots. Griezmann also scored all 3 penalties he took. Not an easy feat, just ask Messi or Ronaldo.

Didier Deschamps deserves a lot of credit for the system. It takes a brave man to play Olivier Giroud and leave Nabil Fekir or Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele on the bench. Giroud had 0 shots on target in 6 games but the manager stuck with his system. He is a brave man indeed. He didn't start Giroud against Australia in round 1, but when he thought they needed a change he made it.

As critical as people are of this French team, one cannot deny their game management, efficiency, and cleverness, elements of the game which are now highly underrated. Deschamps took the team from heartbreak in the Euros at home in 2016 to absolute paradise in Moscow.

Everyone loves an underdogs story and Croatia had their own remarkable and admirable run to the World Cup final. They proved worthy of the 'golden generation' tag with marvelous performances against Argentina and France, though less so against Denmark and Russia. The golden generation had to go home with silver.

Ultimately, France's quality shone through in the Moscow rain. Them learning from their defeat in Paris at Euro 2016 was evident. One has to say they deserved that trophy, and that they did enough to earn it.