Zlatan Ibrahimovic tore into Paraguay’s attempts to unsettle France after Didier Deschamps‘ side edged past the South Americans 1-0 in their FIFA World Cup Round of 32 clash on Saturday in Philadelphia. France booked their place in the quarterfinals thanks to Kylian Mbappe‘s 70th-minute penalty.
From the opening whistle, Paraguay’s approach was evident: defend at all costs and get under France’s skin. Mbappe was the primary target throughout the contest as Paraguay repeatedly tested the referee’s tolerance with their physical approach.
Andrés Cubas grabbed Mbappe in the attacking third, sparking a mass confrontation in the 35th minute. Later in the first half, Matias Galarza barged into the France captain off the ball, sending him crashing to the turf. In the 77th minute, Juan José Cáceres caught Mbappe on the right shin with another late challenge. Remarkably, none of those fouls resulted in a yellow card.
Speaking on FOX Sports, Sweden legend Ibrahimovic criticised Paraguay’s tactics before joking that he would never have kept his cool in those circumstances.
“It was a different challenge for them today,” Ibrahimovic said. “It was about not getting provoked, staying composed, staying calm and not falling for the tricks they were trying.”
Asked whether such matches are difficult to play in, Ibrahimovic laughed.
“It is. It is,” he said. “I would get four red cards in this game! Maybe send somebody to… But yes, it is what it is.”
“I like to play the real game. I don’t like when somebody is constantly trying to provoke you. It’s part of football, but at the same time, it shouldn’t be.”
“France showed calm. They stayed relaxed and did what they needed to do. They smiled, scored the goal, won the game and are now celebrating with their fans. That’s the best response.”
Paraguay’s approach, however, did not come as a surprise to France. Deschamps had spoken about the South Americans’ aggressive style before the match, while Mbappe praised his side for refusing to lose their composure.
“We knew what kind of match it was going to be,” Mbappe said. “We can also get our hands dirty. We know how to do it. We know how to play ugly football. They probably thought we were going to show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. Even in that kind of game, we were better than them.”
Tempers regularly threatened to boil over throughout the contest, but Paraguay insisted their physical approach was deliberate.
“From the very first moment, we wanted to make our presence felt on the pitch — to play hard,” goalkeeper Orlando Gill said. “If the ball gets through, the man doesn’t. Honestly, I think the team handled itself well.”
France saw it differently.
“They pull out every trick in the book,” Deschamps said. “It’s not the kind of football that draws people to the stadium. Every team is free to play the way it wants, but there were insults from the other bench that I could have done without.”
