France are one of the favourites to seal the World Cup title, having recently beat England in the quarterfinals.
Kylian Mbappe has served as the main protagonist in France’s road to the semifinal so far. But while the PSG star has attracted most of the limelight, another part of France’s success has been Ousmane Dembele.
The Barcelona winger has stepped up to the plate and has performed brilliantly. His performances have been critical following the absence of Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku through injury.
Dembele’s return to prominence also serves as an indicator of the player’s rapid turn of fortunes since the start of the year. According to Diario SPORT, French national team coach Didier Deschamps is quite delighted with the way Xavi has honed the player.
Dembele is now indeed a far more mature footballer, with determination and team spirit. He has also become far more tactically flexible and has been willing to do the defensive work for his team. These are the qualities which have been noticed by Deschamps.
It is also a major reason the former Borussia Dortmund starlet has continued to play a key role for his country, despite stiff competition all over the attacking department.
With just two wins to go for France to successfully defend the World Cup, Deschamps will be hoping that Dembele continues to perform at the highest level and complement the work done by the likes of Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann in the final third.
Les Bleus‘s next game will see them tussle against the surprise package Morocco in the semifinal. It should be a daunting challenge for Dembele and co. as the North African team has shown excellent organisation and team spirit. They are more than capable of pulling off yet another upset this week.
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