WORLD Cup2018：France reach final after 1-0 win over Belgium

　　France will face England or Croatia in the World Cup final after edging past European neighbours Belgium in the semi-final in St Petersburg.

　　Defender Samuel Umtiti scored the winning goal for the 1998 champions in the second half with a towering header from Antoine Griezmann's corner.

　　Didier Deschamps' side were on the back foot for large periods of the game, but emerged victorious to reach their third final, having been beaten by Italy on penalties in 2006.

　　Belgium came through the quarter-finals by impressively beating Brazil, but they were unable to find the equaliser, as Axel Witsel's powerful, long-range drive was pushed away by Hugo Lloris, who also brilliantly kept out Toby Alderweireld's turn and shot.

　　At the final whistle, the France substitutes ran on the pitch to celebrate with the players, while manager Deschamps was mobbed by his staff before dancing around in a circle.

　　England play Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in the second semi-final on Wednesday (kick-off 19:00 BST) and the final takes places at the same venue on Sunday (16:00 BST).

　　■ Relive France's victory over Belgium

　　■ Player Rater: France v Belgium

　　Functional France over flair

　　Twenty years ago, France won the World Cup for the first and only time in their history at home in Paris with a 3-0 win over Brazil.

　　That team was captained by Deschamps, who is now aiming to emulate Brazilian Mario Zagallo and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer by winning the competition as both a player and manager.

　　Deschamps was a holding midfielder in his day and his France side have come to characterise his playing style of functionality over flair by adopting a conservative game.

　　Belgium had 64% possession in the match but France kept their shape, played on the counter-attack and constantly looked to forward Kylian Mbappe, who was a threat throughout with his darting runs and trickery with the ball.

　　The teenager, who announced himself on the global stage by scoring twice against Argentina in the last 16, played a sublime flick to put Olivier Giroud in on goal, but the Chelsea man saw his shot blocked from close range.

　　Although Giroud has now had 13 shots in the tournament without finding the target, he is likely to keep his place in the starting XI for the final.

　　Deschamps has been questioned for continuing to deploy Giroud up front in his side and has been asked why a place cannot be found for other attacking talents such as Ousmane Dembele or Thomas Lemar.

　　But he has answered the critics with a run to a second consecutive major tournament final after Euro 2016, when they were beaten in extra-time by Portugal.

　　Once France went ahead on 50 minutes they rarely looked like conceding and Belgium went out with a bit of a whimper.

      参考译文：

　　在圣彼得堡的半决赛中，法国队击败了欧洲邻国比利时，将在世界杯决赛中对阵英格兰和克罗地亚。

　　后卫塞缪尔·乌姆蒂蒂在下半场凭借安托万·格里兹曼的角球打进了1998年冠军的制胜一球。

　　迪迪埃·德尚的球队在比赛的大部分时间里都处于后场，但在2006年点球大战中被意大利击败后，他们最终取得了第三个决赛的胜利。

　　比利时在四分之一决赛中令人印象深刻地击败了巴西，但他们没能找到扳平比分的办法，因为阿克塞尔·维塞尔(Axel Witsel)强大的远距离射门被雨果·洛里斯(Hugo Lloris)推开，后者也出色地挡开了托比·奥德维尔德雷尔德(Toby Alderweireld)的转身射门。

　　终场哨声响起时，法国队的替补队员在球场上与球员们一起庆祝，而主教练德尚被他的工作人员团团围住，然后绕着圈跳舞。

　　英格兰队将于周三(英国夏令时19:00)在莫斯科的卢日尼基体育场与克罗地亚进行第二轮半决赛，决赛将于周日(英国夏令时16:00)在同一场地举行。

　　■重温法国战胜比利时

　　■球员评定等级:法国v比利时

　　功能性法国在天赋

　　20年前，法国在巴黎主场3:0战胜巴西，赢得了世界杯，这是他们历史上第一次，也是唯一一次。

　　这支球队的队长是德尚，他现在的目标是通过球员和教练的双重身份赢得比赛，来效仿巴西人马里奥·扎加洛和德国人弗朗茨·贝肯鲍尔。

　　德尚在他的时代是一名控球中场，他的法国队已经开始用一场保守的比赛来描述他的功能性而不是天赋。

　　比利时在比赛中有64%的控球权，但法国保持了他们的状态，在反攻中发挥作用，并不断地期待着基利安·Mbappe的出现。

　　这位在过去16场对阵阿根廷的比赛中打进两球的年轻球员在国际舞台上宣告了自己的身份，他的精彩表现让奥利维尔·格鲁德(Olivier Giroud)得以进球，但这位切尔西球员的射门被近距离挡出。

　　尽管吉鲁德现在已经在比赛中有13次射门没有找到目标，但他很有可能在第11场决赛中保住自己的位置。

　　德尚被质疑继续将格鲁德安排在他的身边，并被问及为什么不能为其他进攻天才找到位置，如杜曼·德贝利或托马斯·勒马尔。

　　但他以连续第二场重大赛事决赛的成绩回应了批评人士，这是在2016欧洲杯之后，当时他们在加时赛中被葡萄牙击败。

　　一旦法国在50分钟的比赛中领先，他们就很少会表现出失球的样子，而比利时也会发出一阵呜咽。

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