Benzema and Mbappe give France their first Nations League trophy

It was the 65 minute of the most boring final in any competition, yet alone The Nations League, another questionable UEFA competition, when things started to happen. After one shot on target for both teams combined, individual effort by Mikel Oyarzabal gave the Spaniard the lead. But it was just the beginning of the 15 minutes thriller which ended with a two goal turnaround for the current world champions France and two more great chances for the equalizer which never happened. France managed to wash out the bitter test of the EURO 2020 failure by the consolidation price – their first Nations League trophy: Spain – France 1-2. 

The Nations League, another UEFA competition created without any special reason, reached it’s final on Sunday evening with the great looking matchup between current World Champions France and always entertaining Spain, who defeated newly Euro winners Italy in the semi-final. And since there was nothing to play for, apart from presige, it was expected that the game will be thrilling, exciting, pretty for the average viewer. It was, but only for the last 15 minutes. Before that, literally nothing happened. Luis Enrique made two chances to the team that won against Italy 2-1. Eric Garcia and Rodri came in for Pau Torres and Koke. Adrien Rabiot was out with Covid-19 so Aurelien Tchouameni started at midfield, while Presnel Kimpembe came in for Lucas Hernandez.

And after the great Oyarzabal solo effort, France woken up also. In fact, the World Champions needed only two minutes to equalize, and if the first goal of the match was pretty and precise, what can be said about Karim Benzema’s stunning strike just inside the penalty area? The 34 year old Real forward is playing the best football in his long career and this stunning equalizer lifted his teammates. Four minutes later, his future teammate in Real, Kylian Mbappe scored the goal for the lead and a total turnaround. Hernandez played a dangerous through ball to the PSG forward who scored, but it looked offside. Even after VAR confirmed the goal, it looked like Mbappe was a centirmeter offside, but the goal stood anyway.

Spain tried to score an equalizer and had two excellent chances, but after great displays by France forwards, it was now time for the France goalie to do his job. The captain made two great saves and stopped Oyarzabal and Jeremi Pino from sending the game into overtime.

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE

Third place:

Italy - Belgium – 2-1 (0-0)

/Barella 46, Berardi 65 (p) - Charles De Ketelaere 86/

Final:

Spain - France 1-2 (0-0)

/Oyarzabal 64 – Benzema 66, Mbappe 80/