Former France and Arsenal star Patrick Vieira criticised two Les Bleus players after their 2-0 World Cup semi-final defeat to Spain on Tuesday night in Texas.
Spain's dominant performance
Spain took the lead in the 22nd minute through Mikel Oyarzabal's penalty after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal in the box. Spain doubled their lead just before the hour mark when Dani Olmo and Pedro Porro combined, with Porro lashing home.
Vieira singled out Digne and Paris Saint-Germain winger Desire Doue for their roles in the goals. 'Digne of course should do better. We are talking about someone with experience. But on the other side Doue has the responsibility as well,' Vieira told ITV1. 'The one-two was played around him, he has to be around him to stop his run or follow him. We can blame Digne for his tactical position but Doue has to be more decisive and more defensive-minded. We are talking about someone who won the Champions League. Defensively the awareness has to go to a different level.'
France's collective failure
Vieira also criticised the team's overall performance, noting that key players like Michael Olise failed to impact the game. 'Spain were the better team, France did not turn up at all,' he said. 'I said before Spain had to be at their best to beat this French team and I think they were above that. Collectively it was fantastic from them. Tactically they were all over them. Olise was the main man and we needed him to get on the ball but they stopped him and he didn't get involved in the game. They won the game tactically, France were not allowed to get comfortable on the ball. We needed our top players to perform today and they didn't. It wasn't just one or two of them that was missing, it was all of them who were missing today. Collectively we were really bad.'
Spain now advance to Sunday's final, while France exit the tournament after being outclassed by the Euro 2024 champions.
