PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Past 2026 world cup The match in Philadelphia, Paraguay, featured a style that has been seen many times before at the city’s soccer stadium.
La Albiroja’s physical approach When we lost 1-0 to France The game in the Round of 16 looked a lot like what you see on Sundays in the fall when the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles play their home games at Lincoln Financial Field.
Eagles coach Nick Sirani may have liked what he saw. Les Bleus certainly wasn’t.
“This was the first time I’ve seen a game like this with so many hits,” said French midfielder Manu Kone. “So it was a cheap shot to the back. So, yes, it was complicated.”
Paraguay appear to be targeting star forward Kylian Mbappé. who took the penalty kick At 70 minutes.
Andres Cubas robbed Mbappé in the offensive third, leading to a huge collision in the 35th minute. Late in the first half, Matias Galarza made contact with Mbappe off the ball, sending him sprawling onto the grass. Then, in the 77th minute, Juan Jose Caceres kicked the French forward on the right shin. None of these fouls resulted in a yellow card.
In fact, France only received three yellow cards in this match. After the final whistle, Paraguay were awarded a point due to a challenge to the referee.
Paraguay’s tactics came as no surprise to their opponents.
“We knew what kind of game it was going to be,” Mbappe said. “We can get our hands dirty. We know how to do it. We know how to play ugly football. They would have expected us to show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. We were better than them in those games as well.”
After the game, things remained heated, both figuratively and literally, as the match was played in scorching temperatures. Players from both teams gathered near the center circle, and Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gil threw the ball onto Mbappé’s back.
“I tried to shake his hand and he didn’t pay attention to me, so I felt angry,” Gill said.
Even during the match, I couldn’t fully control my frustration. La Albirroja was planning to make things tough.
“From the first moment, we aimed to make our presence felt on the pitch – to play hard,” Gill said. “The ball goes through, the guy doesn’t go through. And, to be honest, I think our team responded well.”
France felt otherwise.
“They’re pulling out every trick in the book,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It’s not the kind of football that brings people to the stadium. Each team played the way they wanted. But there was negligible disrespect from the other benches.”
There was also some badmouthing on the pitch, with Mbappé and Galarza even engaging in verbal sparring.
At times, it seemed like the referee could have used a yellow flag, like in American football, in addition to a yellow card.
“We put up a fight,” said France’s William Saliba. “We won the battle.”
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