{"id":153701,"date":"2022-12-10T10:51:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-10T10:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/england-v-france-a-heavyweight-contest-to-define-the-southgate-era-world-cup-2022\/"},"modified":"2022-12-10T10:51:07","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T10:51:07","slug":"england-v-france-a-heavyweight-contest-to-define-the-southgate-era-world-cup-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/england-v-france-a-heavyweight-contest-to-define-the-southgate-era-world-cup-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"England v France: a heavyweight contest to define the Southgate era | World Cup 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
D<\/span><\/span>arkness falls quickly in Qatar. The night steals in like a kidnapper, wrapping its shroud around the desert like a bag over the head. Sunsets barely last long enough to choose an Instagram filter. On Saturday evening, either England or France will also discover that in these parts, oblivion descends with a devastating brutality.<\/span><\/p>\n Come 10pm local time, what has gone before will cease to matter. To the loser, the ruthless and often scintillating football that brought them to this quarter-final will be of no consolation at all. One of Harry Kane or Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 is a fraud. One of Didier Deschamps or Gareth Southgate is a moron. One of Declan Rice or Aur\u00e9lien Tchouam\u00e9ni is about to be \u201cpainfully exposed at this level\u201d. Either the Football Association needs to take a long hard look at its French counterpart, or vice versa. Two hours of football decides the lot. Sorry, that’s just the way it goes.<\/p>\n That we all willingly buy into this quasi-fiction is what lends World Cup knockout football its maniacal power. A microscopic VAR call; an act of unrepeatable brilliance; a lucky deflection off the backside of Olivier Giroud; a penalty kick. On these slippery wheels are broken the work of four years. And for all the inevitable pre-match prophecy and post-match autopsy, England v France feels impossible to call with any confidence.<\/p>\n