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#4 Antoine Griezmann’s Set-Pieces and Penalties
Coming into the tournament, many expected Antoine Griezmann to have the same sort of attacking impact as he did in Euro 2016, as the lynchpin of the French side. However, the fatigue after another great season for Atletico Madrid showed as Griezmann did not have the same offensive impact as he usually does.
Griezmann still worked hard throughout the tournament without the ball, especially in pressuring opposing defensive midfielders into mistakes. Yet, his biggest impact for Les Blues in the tournament came on set-pieces. In the knockout stages when France struggled to create from open play (or when Oliver Giroud missed crucial chances), it was Griezmann’s set pieces that helped France break upon several defences.
It was Griezmann’s set pieces that were nodded in by Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti and Mario Mandzukic (in his own net) to give France the lead in the quarter-final, semi-final and final respectively. Equally important were No.7’s penalties, as he converted all three chances he got from the spot, including the vital one in the final. Now he returns to Madrid with a winners’ medal, the Bronze Ball, the Silver Boot and the man of the match award from the World Cup final.
