A back four including Bacary Sagna and Patrice Evra – combined age 68 – do not inspire the confidence of past France defences for the Euro 2016 semi-final
Rubén Morán was 19 when he made his debut for Uruguay. Nothing unusual in that, though the match was more important than most: it was the 1950 World Cup final, against Brazil, in front of 199,854 people at the Maracanã. Uruguay stunned the world with a 2-1 victory and Morán remains the only player to make his international debut in a World Cup final.
It is hard to imagine anyone in modern football experiencing quite such a volcanic baptism, though the Brazil right-back Zé Carlos did win his only cap in the 1998 World Cup semi-final against Holland. And on Sunday night in Paris, Samuel Umtiti made his France debut in a European Championship quarter-final.
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Published on July 04, 2016 07:07