Mike Maignan the main man as France beat Croatia on penalties to reach Nations League semis

PARIS – France produced a great attacking performance to overturn a two-goal deficit against Croatia and level their Nations League quarter-final tie, but it was goalkeeper Mike Maignan who stole the spotlight with his penalty heroics in a 5-4 shoot-out victory on March 23.

Maignan made two saves and saw one Croatian attempt fly over the bar to maintain his impressive record on penalties with France, becoming the only Les Bleus goalkeeper to win two shoot-outs.

“We know that with Mike, we start a shoot-out with an advantage. He makes a difference,” captain Kylian Mbappe said.

Maignan was on the bench when France lost the 2022 World Cup final to Argentina on penalties, with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris unable to make a save in the shoot-out.

The March 23 game at the Stade de France was a breath of fresh air for Maignan, who has been struggling with AC Milan lately.

“The goal is big so the first thing is to take as much space as possible on the line. Then it’s a psychological battle with the shooter, you have to get into their head,” he said.

Les Bleus won 2-0 on the night with goals in normal time by forwards Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele in front of a crowd of 77,502 to wipe out their deficit from the first leg.

With no further scoring in extra time, the tie went to penalties, where Maignan saved from both Martin Baturina and Josip Stanisic, while Franjo Ivanovic also missed for the visitors.

Jules Kounde and Theo Hernandez both failed to convert for the hosts, but Dayot Upamecano scored when he became the seventh France player to step up, sparking scenes of celebrations.

Said Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic: “It was a very difficult night for us. We were not able to repeat our performance from the first leg. It is good experience for us for the future. The aim now is to get to the World Cup, and we can do it.”

France face Spain, who also went through 5-4 on penalties against the Netherlands, in the semi-finals in Stuttgart on June 5.

“Getting to the final is an objective. These are the kind of matches you want to play in and there is a title up for grabs,” Mbappe added.

In Valencia, Spain beat the Netherlands 5-4 on penalties after the second leg of their thrilling contest finished 3-3.

After a see-saw tie ended 5-5 on aggregate, the teams could not be separated through the first three rounds of a tense shoot-out, before both sides missed their fourth penalties.

Yet the decisive blow was landed in the sixth round when the Netherlands’ Donyell Malen saw his attempt saved by Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon, allowing Pedri to secure the win.

European champions Spain took the lead in the tie when Mikel Oyarzabal picked himself up after being fouled in the box to slot home an early penalty.

The Netherlands equalised nine minutes into the second half as Memphis Depay also won and then netted a spot-kick.

Oyarzabal grabbed his second in the 67th minute after a strong run by forward Nico Williams, only for the Dutch to level again with 11 minutes remaining through Ian Maatsen’s fierce strike.

Lamine Yamal struck shortly before the interval in extra time, though, curling the ball into the far corner after a couple of superb touches.

There was yet another twist as Simon brought down Xavi Simons, who picked himself up to score the resulting penalty. Simon, however, redeemed himself in the shoot-out. REUTERS, AFP