Wonder stop from Lloris sends France through to semi-finals
France's Hugo Lloris during the training session (pic: John Walton/PA Images). - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
The Spurs captain kept a clean sheet as Les Bleus reached the last four of the World Cup with a 2-0 win over Uruguay
A stunning save from Hugo Lloris helped France make it through to the semi-finals of the World Cup on Friday afternoon following a 2-0 win over Uruguay.
The Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper had praised the quality of the South Americans in the build up to the last-eight tie, but saw Les Bleus run out winners in Nizhny Novgorod.
France took a first-half lead when Raphael Varane flicked home a free kick from Antoine Griezmann in the 40th minute.
Uruguay almost got better on level terms instantly, however, when Martin Caceres got on the end of a cross into the area and headed towards goal.
With the ball seemingly destined for the back of the net, Lloris somehow got across his goal, got a strong hand to the effort and clawed it away before closing down Diego Godin to ensure he couldn’t fire home the rebound.
It was the decisive moment of the match with Uruguay struggling to create any more opportunities after the break.
France wrapped up the game late on when Griezmann’s long-range effort managed to go through the hands of goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
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It was an embarrassing moment for the Uruguay stopper, but only enhanced the key role Lloris had played for his country in them taking another step towards winning the World Cup for the first time since 1998.
Tottenham’s captain will now prepare for the semi-finals of the competition, which are coming up on Tuesday (7.45pm kick-off).
