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Pre-Match

It was always going to be a difficult game and the build up was very much a question of "How can England stop Kylian Mbappe?" A question that was answered once the team news was announced, the same starting XI that played against Senegal in the Round of 16. This meant that Mbappe would primarily be the responsibility of Kyle Walker - not the first time he's had this job having previously handled him in the Champions League for Manchester City against Paris St. Germain.

Whilst the build up evolved around this, there was also a quiet murmur of "How will France handle Bukayo Saka?" but it never reached much volume.

One thing that I believed to be true before the game and still believe to be true now is that the winner of this match, would go on to become 2022's World Cup Champions.

1st Half

It was a fairly lively but unremarkable start to the game with England primarily attacking down the right with Bukayo Saka looking lively.

When the clumsy Dayot Upamecano nibbled away at Saka's legs until he could stand no more, we waited patiently for the inevitable free kick in the kind of position that we like to attack from. But the whistle didn't come. We waited, no whistle. The ball eventually found its way to Aurelien Tchouameni well outside England's area and he decided to try his luck. It seemed that lady luck was smiling down upon him as his shot went through Jude Bellingham's legs, past the helpless Pickford and nestled itself in the bottom corner. A great strike but that didn't matter - VAR would go back, see the foul on Saka and the goal would be disallowed. But like the referee's whistle, VAR ignored the obvious foul and English fans knew that it wasn't just France that would need beating, it would be the officials too.

England responded well and France looked uncomfortable. Saka was having the game of his life, as was Harry Kane and less than 10 minutes after France had scored, Kane got goal side of "The Donkey" Upamecano who bundled him over on their way into the penalty area. Tough to give in real time but another job for VAR who once again let us down. The contact was on the line and therefore inside. It was a clear foul. But once again, nothing. We're being cheated here.

We continued to attack and the only response France had was to kick us at every opportunity... but the ref was happy to let everything go until Antoine Griezmann's 3rd cynical foul earnt him a booking on 43 minutes. Had the ref finally gotten to grips with the pace of the game? (Spoiler Alert: No.)

France were eventually saved by the half time whistle. 1-0 down but plenty for England to feel positive about.

As for Mbappe... he was nowhere to be seen.

2nd Half

The 2nd half started with more of the same. Bellingham's thunderous strike from outside the box was matched by Hugo Lloris who made a wonderful save. And then 10 minutes into the 2nd half a decision that the officials finally couldn't ignore. The goalscorer Tchouameni was done by Saka's quick feet and couldn't help himself, lunging towards the ball but only managing to take Saka out. The French players couldn't believe it, wasting a huge amount of time before Kane could step up and smash the ball past his Tottenham teammate to make it 1-1. We'd been cheated, but we were on top and the game was ours for the taking.

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But almost straight after, we switched off. Rabiot seemed to be through on goal from absolutely nothing and we were fortunate that he took his shot early, giving Pickford plenty of time to get down and save it.

Chances were coming now. Maguire narrowly missed for England and then Giroud's shot at goal found Pickford when the back of the net seemed like the easier destination.

This game was an absolute cracker but then another blow. A sensational cross from Griezmann found the head of Olivier Giroud and it was 2-1 France.

Elite football can be brutal. You either take your chances and win, or you don't... and you lose.

But we weren't done yet. Oh yeah - and if you were wondering where Mbappe was, I have no idea. This was the Saka show (until he got subbed off after Giroud's goal).

England kept searching. Kept probing but the minutes were ticking away. I started to feel despondent. The quality of chances now were poor and France looked comfortable. But then a searching long ball by Jude Bellingham saw Mason Mount fall to the floor, complaining in the box. It looked like nothing but then the replays started - VAR were looking and... hello... what's this...?

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Clumsy by Theo Hernandez. Pointless by Theo Hernandez. That's a penalty. Surely that's a penalty. VAR looked, we waited. Denied by VAR twice in the 1st half, the more the minutes ticked, the less optimistic I became. Then the referee was sent to look. He saw what you see above. Blatant. Then another angle... why the fuck does he need another angle? That's a shit angle. Then back to the obvious angle. He's not going to give it is he...?

After an anxious wait... PENALTY!! YES!!! (I scream) COME ON!!!

The reliable Harry Kane has to go again. The commentator reminds us of Gary Lineker's double penalty goals v. Cameroon in Italia '90. Penalties that I remember well. Much like the Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle penalties in the shoot-out against West Germany in the semi-final of the same tournament. And it was the Waddle penalty that I thought of as Kane's strike flew higher and higher into the stand above. Silence in the-gorilla household. Everybody else in bed as I fell back on the sofa in disbelief. He's missed it.

After the miss, images of Kylian Mbappe laughing started circulating - somewhat unfairly if you watch the full clip...

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...he knew that was probably it. I knew that was probably it. 5 minutes of the 90 left to play and if the England players felt half as deflated as I did, we were done.

They had to play on though and in the final seconds of injury time, we got a free kick on the edge of the area. If you had to pick a spot, this was it and substitute Marcus Rashford was the man who took the responsibility. "Just hit the target" is all I could think. "Just hit the target".

He didn't. His free kick went over, landing on the roof of the net and that was it. We were out and France will go on to become World Champions once again.

Oh... and as for Mbappe - Bukayo Saka showed him what you have to do in the big games to be recognised as the World's best.

Post-Match

It's a difficult one to process and in a single game, I was reminded of so many moments as an England fan at major tournaments. The shit refs - Beckham in '98 and Lampard's goal in 2010. The penalties - West Germany at Italia '90, Germany again at Euro '96, Argentina in France '98, Portugal in 2006 and then to Italy in last year's Euro's final at Wembley. This match brought it all back and wrapped it all up in 3 pivotal moments. Saka was fouled in the build-up to their goal. Kane was fouled for another penalty. And then the penalty miss. But for probably the first time that I can remember, I also feel a sense of melancholy. We'd lost to the World Champions and for 98+ minutes, we were better than them. On another night, in another time, those decisions would have gone our way and I'd be looking forward to a semi-final against Morocco. But I'm not.

Instead, I spent the morning building a snowman with the-child-gorilla.

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Match Highlights

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