France face Philly furnace as World Cup last 16 gets under way

LOS ANGELES, July 4 — France are bracing for furnace-like temperatures when they face Paraguay in Philadelphia in the World Cup’s last 16 on Saturday as co-hosts Canada prepare for a daunting date with African giants Morocco in Houston.

With a brutal heatwave roasting swathes of the United States as it celebrates July 4th, Les Bleus take on Paraguay at Lincoln Financial Field against a backdrop of extreme heat warnings.

Temperatures in the Pennsylvania metropolis touched 38 degrees Celsius on Friday, and the US National Weather Service are warning of more of the same today when the game kicks off at 5pm local time.

France coach Didier Deschamps said his team will be prepared for the conditions.

“It is something we need to take into account, but I think every team has prepared for it. It can have an impact on all the teams,” said Deschamps.

“This will be our fifth game at the tournament and that will have an impact as well, but I am not fixated on the heat.”

France have the outstanding team of the tournament so far, producing a series of scintillating attacking displays to surge into the last 16, scoring 13 goals in four games.

Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro said the South Americans were more concerned by the “storm” of France’s multi-pronged attack than the weather.

“France are like an electrical storm. We need to be aware that the storm is coming and try to be prepared for the lightning bolts,” Alfaro said.

“We are used to the heat, and of course we have to suffer with it. You would never play a World Cup game at 5:00 pm in Paraguay, and if we did we might lose, but it’s like when you go to Quito (to play Ecuador), and you have to be ready for the altitude.”

Paraguay demonstrated in their victory over Germany in the last 32 that they are likely to present a rugged challenge to French hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

Physical battle 

France forward Bradley Barcola is fully expecting the South Americans to bring a physical approach to Saturday’s game.

“It’s a team that defends a lot. They’re going to dish out a lot of knocks,” Barcola said.

“But they are also a footballing team. We saw that against Germany.”

In today’s early last 16 game, Canada are chasing what would be a massive upset when they take on 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco in Houston.

The Canadians are riding high after defeating South Africa in Los Angeles on Sunday to advance to the last 16.

But Canada coach Jesse Marsch says beating a side of the calibre of Morocco will require a whole new level of performance.

“Morocco is a team that has literally zero weaknesses,” Marsch said yesterday.

“We have to try to be good at the things that we care about and that we are good at.

“We’re going to need to handle the difficulty of what Morocco is going to throw at us at every moment, and make sure that we are understanding exactly who we are, how we want to play, who we want to be, and that we execute that at the highest level.”

Morocco fought their way into today’s last 16 with a gruelling victory over the Netherlands, when they won on penalties after extra-time.

Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi though said the victory over the Dutch was already in the rear-view mirror as the Atlas Lions aim to keep moving through the tournament, where a possible quarter-final date with France awaits them.

“We have a lot of respect for (Canada), they have quality,” Ouahbi said.

“The level we showed in these last games will not be enough. This is the most difficult game, because it is the next one.”

“We already played against the Netherlands, it’s in the past. If we have to play another match, that will be the hardest one.” — AFP