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He’ll be 18 soon. Where does time go?
Team news: Doue starts
Spain make three changes from the quarter-final over the Netherlands. Pedro Porro, Mikel Merino and Pedri come in for Oscar Mingueza, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo.
While Luis de la Fuente is resting his Champions League winner, Didier Deschamps starts both Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue. There are five changes from their quarter-final against Croatia: Doue, Adrien Rabiot, Pierre Kalulu, Ibrahima Konate and Clement Lenglet replace Bradley Barcola, Aurelien Tchouameni and the injured defensive trio of Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano and William Saliba.
Spain (4-3-3) Simon; Porro, Le Normand, Huijsen, Cucurella; Pedri, Zubimendi, Merino; Yamal, Oyarzabal, N Williams.
Substitutes: Raya, Remiro, Cubarsi, Vivian, Morata, Fabian Ruiz, Gavi, Olmo, Mingueza, Pino, Alex Baena, Grimaldo, Isco, Fermin Lopez, Samu.
France (4-2-3-1) Maignan; Kalulu, Konate, Lenglet, T Hernandez; Kone, Rabiot; Dembele, Olise, Doue; Mbappe.
Substitutes: Samba, Chevalier, Pavard, Digne, Bade, Guendouzi, Tchouameni, Thuram, Kolo Muani, Gusto, Zaire-Emery, Barcola, L Hernandez, Cherki.
Referee Michael Oliver (England)
It’s the Euro 2070 semi-final, and Portugal manager Joao Neves has a decision to make up front…
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Ballon d’Or decider between Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele in Stuttgart. That, at least, is how some people are pitching this Nations League semi-final between Spain and France. It’s a reminder that – despite the best efforts of Paris Saint-Germain and indeed Spain at Euro 2024 -the cult of the individual has never been stronger in football.
That cult began, or at least gathered pace, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo lording over the sport for the best part of 15 years. Both are still going strongish, and Ronaldo pilfered the headlines with the winner against Germany in last night’s first semi-final.
Portugal’s win means that, whatever happens tonight, Sunday’s final will involve a previous champion. Portugal won the inaugural tournament in 2019, France beat Spain the final in 2021 and Spain overcame Croatia in 2023.
That turned into a useful stepping stone ahead of Euro 2024, a tournament Spain won so magnificently. They beat four former world champions en route, including France in a pulsating semi-final. We could have another thriller tonight. May the best team – italics, bold – win.
Kick off 8pm.
