Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1000343
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 JULY 2018 28 WORLD CUP SPORTS France advance to Quarter-Finals after seven-goal thriller KYLIAN Mbappe came of age in Kazan yesterday with a stun- ning second half double to fire France into the World Cup quarter-finals and leave Lionel Messi's Argentina heading home. The 19-year-old striker scored twice in five minutes just past the hour mark as Di- dier Deschamps' men stormed back from behind to seal a 4-3 victory in a seven-goal thrill- er which will live long in the memory. An enthralling contest saw goal-of-the-tournament con- tenders from both Angel Di Maria and Benjamin Pavard and even an improbably dra- matic finale after Sergio Ague- ro's injury-time effort gave Ar- gentina hope. Antoine Griezmann had given France an early lead from the penalty spot and Jorge Sam- paoli's side only stirred after Di Maria lashed home a superb 30-yard effort shortly before half-time. Gabriel Mercado poked Ar- gentina into the lead before Pavard's stunning equaliser paved the way for the auda- cious Mbappe to take the game by the scruff of its neck. Amid it all stood the forlorn figure of Lionel Messi, who was rendered a virtual bit-part play- er in his so-called 'false nine' position, shorn of the influ- ence with which he has turned so many previous games in his favour. Beleaguered Sampaoli had in- sisted his side would approach the game "with a knife between their teeth" but as with their group stage campaign there was little sign of anything inci- sive early on. Griezmann had already hit the bar before he gave France the lead from the penalty shot in the 13th minute after Mbap- pe was fouled by Marcos Rojo in the box. The impressive Paul Pogba fired over the bar and France looked set to win the game at will before Di Maria changed the momentum four minutes before the break, smashing home a brilliant left-footed shot from long-range. The recovery was complete three minutes into the second half when Mercado deflected effort into the net, but the re- sponse from Deschamps' men proved simply devastating. First Pavard let fly with a right-footed effort which was every inch the equal of Di Ma- ria's strike to draw France level in the 57th minute. Six minutes later a left-wing cross from Lucas Hernandez was only half-cleared from the Argentina box and fell to Mbappe, who took one touch before slotting home beneath keeper Franco Armani. And neither France nor Mbappe were finished, with the teenager increasing his tally in the 68th minute when he was fed by Olivier Giroud on the right side of the box and duly dispatched his second of the game. Yet there was still to be one final twist as Aguero stooped to head home Messi's cross into the box two minutes into injury time, giving Argentina hope of an outrageous recov- ery. They pushed forward desper- ately in the dying seconds but the referee's whistle led to wild celebrations and the sense that Messi could have handed over the mantle to a new superstar of the game. France Argentina 4 3 Kylian Mbappe scored twice in five minutes for France