FRENCH NATIONAL UNION VS. MACEDONIAN EMPIRE
CORTÉS STADIUM, CABO SAN LUCAS
P: Good afternoon and welcome to a new game of the 2020 World Cup. My name is Pablo Cervantes and together with my partner Carla Schulenburg we are happy to be with you today from sunny Cabo San Lucas, where today France and Macedonia will face each other in a rematch of that exciting semifinal in 1996, where the Macedonians surprised everyone by reaching that instance, but ultimately lost against the French.
C: Thank you very much, Pablo, it is a pleasure to be with all of you in this match that has effectively reminded many of that game in which Zinedine Zidane established himself as one of the best in the world. However, today things look very different, with a French team full of stars, a combination of young players and veterans, and definitely one of the favorites to take the title this year, while Macedonia is going through a generational change that made them miss the last two editions of the World Cup.
P: Hopefully it will be a good game, which will start in 10 more minutes, while the anthem ceremony will begin in 5. Today we have the honor of having the presence of the Duke of Oaxaca, Agustín Hapbsburg, uncle of the current emperor and one of the main promoters of Mexico's candidacy to host this World Cup.
C: And the opening ceremony begins, let us respectfully listen to the national anthems of the French National Union and the Macedonian Empire.
P: There is loud applause from fans at the stadium, including a large group of French and Macedonians who are trying to be louder than their rivals.
0 ’ And we start! Da Costa passes the ball back to Wijnaldum, who quickly begins to advance into enemy territory, with his teammates spreading out across the field.
10’ The French pressure is felt on all the lines of play of the Balkan squad, or is it an Anatolian squad? Whatever the case, they need to pay attention to every move they make, unless they want one of the three Mbappés in the opposing team to score.
15’ First dangerous approach by the French: Hakimi escapes on the right wing, crossing the ball towards da Costa, whose header goes far up. He shouldn't have jumped that much before heading.
23 ’ What a shot! Kylian Mbappé cuts from the right side towards the center and takes a left-footed shot that Saveski sends to a corner kick with his fingernails. If that ball had gone two centimeters higher we would be talking about the first goal of the afternoon.
26’ Ionski cleans the field with a break on Wijnaldum and sends a filtered pass to Kuber, who is about to shoot, but a very timely sweep by van Dijk ends the Macedonian attack.
30’ After half an hour of play French domination is evident, but their attack has been nullified by the Macedonians, who are not risking anything, clearly trying to get away with a draw and try to get enough points to go on to the next round in their remaining three games.
42' France wants to close the first half with the advantage and launches an offensive again, this time coordinating an attack in the middle with Napoleon Mbappé sending a filtered pass to Da Costa, who shoots, but the ball crashes into the goalkeeper and goes out with a corner kick awarded.
46 ’+2 The first half is over! 45 minutes without many emotions in which France had two clear options, while Macedonia is still determined not to go beyond their side of the field and defend until the 90th minute arrives.
50 ’ First change of the game, Ionski is replaced by Popov, a more defense-oriented player, in a clear sign that Macedonia will not change its approach in this second half.
56’ Van Dijk leaves the field and is replaced by Agoume, who will try to find the combination to break the Macedonian lock.
60’ Hakimi sweep against Kuber!, who wanted to leave the French defender behind to face Donarumma. The referee signals a free kick on the edge of the box and shows a yellow card to the defender of the Méditeranée Marseille. Dardan will be in charge of taking the shot, in what could be the Sunbursts' clearest option of the game.
61’ Dardan crashes his shot into the wall and the ball goes out for a throw-in for Macedonia.
63' Macedonia's second change: it seems that Kuber cannot continue after Hakimi's sweep and will be replaced by Lukić, who will occupy the same position.
70’ Corner shot in favor of Macedonia. The kick of Pellas is bad and goes directly into the hands of the French goalkeeper.
74' New attempt by France! Starting from his own field, Hernandez runs the entire left wing and crosses the ball to Mbappé, who is waiting in the center. However, the cross is a bad gone and goes long to the other side of the court.
76’ Last change for Macedonia: Attikaski leaves for Limnios. Obviously Siovas wants to park the bus for the last 15 minutes of the game.
81’ It looks like Macedonia is going to get away with it and will get the 0-0 draw they have looking for the whole game. Wait a moment! The referee signals a free kick after a tackle by Limnios on Da Costa. Brašković, an expert in these situations, will take the shot.
82 ’GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Nothing to do for Saveski. A masterful free kick from Brašković, who places the ball on the angle, where the spiders weave their nests. No one could have stopped that shot. France's patience is rewarded and they go up 1-0.
85 ’Macedonia is now trying desperately to launch attack after attack but without much success. France's defense is almost as good as its attack and its discipline disarms any attempt by the rival to reach their goal.
89 ’Change for France: Camavinga for Brašković who, with his masterful goal, is giving his team the victory.
90 ’+3 End of the game! France takes its first three points despite the heroic defense of the Macedonians, who now will have to go against the current for the rest of the tournament. We are Pablo Cervantes and Carla Schulenburg, thank you very much for joining us and see you next time.
FRENCH NATIONAL UNION 1-0 MACEDONIAN EMPIRE
Brašković 82'
Lineups:
France: Donnarumma, Hermandez, Mbappé, Van Dijk (Agoume, 56'), Hakimi, Mbappé, Wijnaldum, Brašković (Camavinga, 89'), Mané, Mbappé, da Costa
Macedonia: Saveski, Trajkovski, Aleksov, Solun, Pellas, Spasovski, Attikaski (Limnios, 75'), Ionski (Popov 50'), Dardan, Kuber (Lukić, 63'), Korab
Goals:
1-0 Brašković, 82’
Yellow cards:
France: Hakimi, 60’
Macedonia: None
Red cards:
None
