A little moment of eternity. The goal of Benjamin Pavard, in the eighth finals of the 2018 World Cup against Argentina (4-3), belongs to these tasty pieces of bravery entered, on a level, in the history of a competition. Football, in its raw state, is by no means an exact science. He built his legend thanks to such audacity. Great. Unpredictable. Magic. All of this translates into Kazan on June 30, 2018, with a whipped half-volley from the entrance to the South American surface to the opposite skylight of Franco Armani.
In a fraction of a second, the destiny of Maubeuge's child, touched by grace, topples into another dimension. Unknown to the general public, a few months earlier, he tore himself away from this anonymity. He was even entitled, in the process, to a song born from the imagination of fans enamored and amazed by the cheek and the freshness of the young man of 22 spring. "We have Pavard, Benjamin Pavard, I don't think you know! It comes out of nowhere, a bastard hit, we have Benjamin Pavard ”, start the French fans.
The left side center ... for the right side
"Second post Pavaaaaard! Benjamin Pavard ”… Grégoire Margotton's phrase, the voice of the Blues for TF1, also participates in making this goal of anthology sacred, designated as the most beautiful in the tournament. “In Kazan, the position of the commentators is located at the very top of the press gallery. When you are this far, it is not easy to realize the intensity of a strike, said the journalist. There, you live something which makes this match pass to posterity. Beyond accompanying the gesture, Bixente (Editor's note: Lizarazu, the consultant) precedes it with a Go! very audible. We never walk on it. Joy is shared when the balloon smashes the window. I remember, then, close-ups of Messi or Mascherano. They didn't take a trivial blow on the head, but a full-face uppercut from Tyson. "
Until then, the Blues have rather dominated the vice-world champions, but lo, these guys have the grinta pegged to the body. They found invisible paths, Lionel Messi struggled to distill a few millimeter passes and the Albiceleste made the lead (2-1). For the first and last time in the competition, the French run after the score for 9 minutes.
Initiated by a release by Hugo Lloris, the action leading to the tri-color equalization is clear. We sometimes forget the importance of the penultimate pass of Matuidi. It opens the defense and allows Lucas Hernandez to center. The kids take control, therefore: the left lateral defender pushes the lights on his side and his counterpart on the right, Pavard, sets his sights.
"I wish that this volley, people sometimes forget it"
“This goal goes against everything that is rational in football, says Didier Deschamps. We can foresee a lot of things, get the messages across, talk about serenity, confidence and concentration to the players before the games, but when the left-back is the center for the right-back and the latter puts the balloon in full skylight, if I tell you that we worked on it in training, you will have a good laugh. This is a typical example of an overshoot. This goal changes everything psychologically. The balance of power is reversed. We feel ourselves grow wings. Our adversary begins to suffer more. "
In the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Blues invent, therefore, moral resources to erase the slate. "This is a decisive moment in our epic," says Lloris. There is no word to explain this gesture from elsewhere. He participates in the madness of the moment. We discovered Benjamin. He has set other fine goals since then at Bayern, but this one keeps a special place. "
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VIDEO. Benjamin Pavard, a less and less discreet world champion
Fault on the second Argentine goal, since it covers Mercado when the latter propels the ball into the back of the net, Pavard has shown his ability to step over difficulties as one jumps hedges to get back in the right direction. "It took mental qualities to make its way. It was not kept by Lille. He then went through the German D 2 in Stuttgart, specifies Guy Stéphan, the assistant of Deschamps. He joined us before the Mondial on tiptoe, but displaying a lot of character. Emotionally, it resists pressure well. In this meeting, he did not doubt. "
Mbappé: "He's a very sick man"
Whether he likes it or not, the main protagonist of this memorable day will have his surname associated, for life, with this feat of arms. “I would like people to forget this volley sometimes. Some think that I made my career on a goal, he regretted, last fall in La Voix du Nord. If I signed at Bayern Munich, it was because they had been following me for some time and that I was performing. They didn't say to themselves: Well, we're going to sign Pavard, just for his volley. "
Parisian Kylian Mbappé was at the forefront when his partner prepared to start lightning. "Against Australia, he had an opportunity like that, says the Parisian jewel in the documentary 2e Étoile broadcast by TF1. He had killed a spectator who was eating a sandwich. So my reflex is to tell me: But what are you doing? Control! And then you follow the ball and you see the kick coming in. And there I say to myself: He's a very sick man! "
When the Blues staff evokes, still today, this cymbal stroke with the Bavarian defender, symbol of the band's success at Deschamps, the latter always struggles to conceal his emotion. "His face lights up," describes Stéphan. Internally, he has to iron these images in his head. Deschamps abounds. "He doesn't think about it every day, but if you talk to him about it, it rekindles strong feelings in him." It was his day and ours. ” A party day.
All episodes of Fol Eté des Bleus
1. 1984, Platini in the firmament
2. 1998, White, the funny summer of the president
3. 2000, Wiltord, a truly golden goal
4. 2006, Zidane, from Olympus to darkness
5. 2016, Grizou's double hit
6. 2018, Pavard, a flight for eternity
