By Jack Gallagher
Endings in sport don’t really exist.
Or they’re at least not as definitive as a movie, a book or a TV show ending is. Nor are they as clear cut.
In sport, a multitude of endings occur at the same time as a multitude of stories are beginning, and all while a multitude of stories are barely half-way done.
Or in other words:
They're very complicated.
France’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 semi-finals felt like a typically complicated sports ending. As the defeat for France was, in many ways, a multitude of endings, beginnings, and stories hitting their mid-way points all simultaneously.
Endings wise, the most obvious one was that it was the end of France's Euro 2024 campaign. By losing the semi-final they were knocked out of the competition...because that's how these things work...and you knew that already.
A similarly obvious ending was that of Didier Deschamps' tenure as Les Bleus coach.
After 12 years and 159 games in charge, despite winning a FIFA World Cup and guiding his nation to three international tournament finals, French football fans are explicitly at wits end with Deschamps’ overtly negative tactical set-up (sound familiar, England fans?).
With Zinedine Zidane waiting in the wings and willing to take over, it's the right time for the FFF to pull the trigger and replace their long-serving manager.
Another ending was that of Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud’s tournament footballing careers.
The pair have, in many ways, been the defining players of their generation for France.
While Griezmann has been the creative beating heart of Les Bleus either in midfield or out wide, Giroud has been the man who has linked everything together and made the nation’s attacking lineup tick up top.
France’s 2-1 defeat to Spain felt like a multitude of beginnings too.
Euro 2024 has ushered in William Saliba as the new leader of the France defence. The Arsenal man, after not even being tipped to start for his nation pre-tournament, has been the best centre-back in Germany this summer, and is now all set to lead the backline for the next decade.
Bradley Barcola’s emergence has been a huge positive too. The youngster was utterly electric out on the left flank when he was introduced in the second half against Spain on Tuesday.
21-year-old Eduardo Camavinga proved to be a bright spark in the defeat, showing that he’s twice the athlete and technical footballer that Adrien Rabiot is during his 30 minute cameo at the Allianz Arena.
France’s 2-1 defeat to Spain was also the mid-way point of other stories.
The France careers of the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Adrien Rabiot and Theo Hernandez are all far from over - although many fans perhaps wish they were after their desperate performances in Germany.
And although he’s already the nation’s captain, second all-time top goalscorer, a World Cup champion, and scored the same number of World Cup goals as Pele (in two less tournaments), Euro 2024 very much falls within the second act of Kylian Mbappe’s France career.
