Selfless stars shine on

There is alliterative appeal in talking about Messi, Mbappe, Modric, and Morocco, and each of the four does present a strong story for the semi-finals. I do, however, want to take some time to talk about a certain Didier Deschamps. This is a man who has won both the World Cup and the Euros as captain, and the Nations League and the World Cup as manager.

Should Les Bleus lift the trophy this time around, he will become the first manager to win back to back World Cups since Vittorio Pozzo did so with Italy in 1934 and 1938. Deschamps' ongoing legacy deserves greater celebration.  

Deschamps' nickname during his playing days, coined by the mercurial Eric Cantona, was "the water carrier" (le porteur d'eau). It was not an insult but rather an homage to Didier's ability and willingness to do the less glamorous tasks of disrupting opposition attacks, winning back possession, starting attacks for his own side, and whatever else he had to do to help his team win. His ethos has surely helped ground a French team that has (in) famously struggled with clashing egos in the past.

Didier's understated nature has seen him being overshadowed by more exciting teammates and charges like Zidane and Mbappe, but that should not diminish his contribution to France's astounding success whenever he has been involved with the team.

Speaking of selfless contributors, I mentioned Luka Modric at the beginning of the piece but have not given him his due in this series. Like Deschamps, Modric goes about his business for club and country quietly, preferring to abdicate the spotlight for whichever flamboyant teammate wants to occupy it.

And like Deschamps, Modric's contribution cannot be underestimated. His achievements are legion, but I want to give particular attention to his performance against Brazil in the quarterfinals. 

In that game, as he has done so many times in the past, Modric marshalled the Croatian midfield to near perfection. Neymar was almost never double teamed, and the defensive zones were covered just enough. This meant, not a single Brazilian attacker got the freedom that they craved and the Croatian flanks had enough forward momentum to pose a consistent threat. 

Before the tournament started, not many had tipped Croatia to make it to the semi-finals, even though they finished the last edition as runners-up. They defied expectations then, and they are doing so now. An achievement for which their captain bears no little credit.

Not bad for a man who spent his childhood surviving a war, and being told that he was too small and weak to ever succeed in football.