France became the second country to win the Nations League competition after beating Spain 2-1 in Sunday’s final. Spain took the lead through Mikel Oyarzabal in the second half, but Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema hit back with a superb goal just two minutes after Spain’s opener.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe won it for the 2018 World Cup winners late in the game as he latched on to a pass from Theo Hernandez and put it past Spanish keeper Unai Simon. The game, though, could have gone into extra time as French keeper Hugo Lloris made a few exceptional saves to lead his side to victory.
The Spaniards dominated possession, but France’s blistering pace on the counter was a threat throughout the game. Benzema could’ve given France the lead in the first half, despite going past the Spanish goalkeeper.
France coach Didier Deschamps was ecstatic following the win, lauding his team’s character and mentality to bounce back even though they went a goal down.
“I’m very proud and very happy for the players. We went behind in both our matches. Today we equalized quickly after going behind. Beyond the talent that we have in this team, there’s also their character and mentality. In the second half we were more aggressive and forced them into mistakes,” said the French coach.
His Spanish counterpart, Luis Enrique, was proud of the effort that his side put up, who had a lot of the ball but couldn’t threaten the French goal as much as they would have liked.
“Irrespective of who we play against, or what situation, we always try to play our way—with bravery, attacking with ambition. So tonight it’s not so much about the pain of defeat, it’s also about a tinge of sadness because we competed very well. The unfairness of football is that we had the chance to put a knockout move on France when we went 1-0 up, but Benzema did something superb,” said the former Barcelona coach.
France mounted their second comeback in the last week as they came from two goals down in the Nations League semi-final against Belgium to beat them 3-2. Benzema and Mbappe were on the scoresheet against the Belgians as well, while a very late goal from Theo Hernandez ensured their passage to the Nations League final.
Deschamps has so far won the World Cup, Nations League, and reached the final of the Euros in his spell as France coach.
