Theo Hernandez pushes teammate sharply as France celebrate: it’s smart

The World Cup final in Argentina and France it was an anthem to football. In the end, after a whirlwind of emotions that seemed to have no end, it was Leo Messi’s team who triumphed, also taking the title of best player in Qatar 2022, leaving Mbappé, author of a hat-trick, to win the prize of top scorer of the tournament. In addition to the battle of nerves between the two brightest stars on the field, there were many episodes that confirmed how the protagonists studied all of them to win. An example? A particular situation after France’s daring and momentary 2-2 goal.

Shortly after the goal that put Les Bleus back on track, as incredible as it may seem from what had been seen earlier, the entire team except Lloris found themselves off the pitch to celebrate the scorer of Mbappé’s goal. Big celebration for the team of a Deschamps unleashed against someone from the opposing bench, incredulous in the collected turnaround. Meanwhile, he didn’t escape the cameras. a gesture by Theo Hernandez: The AC Milan full-back literally prevented a teammate from joining in the celebration, putting pressure on him to stay on the field.

A situation that is not new on the football field, as confirmed by what happened in the last World Cup match between Portugal and Switzerland, with Bernardo Silva remaining on the field while the national team cheered. There was a “false myth” that this “tactic” was linked to the fact that, with all of a team’s players out of bounds, the opposition could make a quick kick-off and take advantage of their absence. A rule that doesn’t actually exist, as you can’t restart if the other team isn’t on the field.

The Bernardo Silva case in Portugal-Switzerland

So there is no risk of falling into this kind of trap by being unprepared, profiting from a sudden restart. However, Theo Hernandez also decided to use strong tactics to convince his teammate to stay in the opposing midfield with an accurate idea. In this way, Argentina could not have restarted hostilities, until the player in question had not returned to his own half🇧🇷

This avoids the risk that, in the wake of the enthusiasm for the goal, the team will return to the field all together and in a disorderly way, not putting itself in a good position. In that case, yes, the risk of being caught unprepared would have been real and that’s why the defender tried the maneuver. With the cunning of the opponent’s midfielder, the return to the pitch can be managed with ease. Indeed, the regulations are clear, as Rule 8 of the International Football Association Board, which refers to the start and restart of play, explains: “All players, except the kickoff player, must be in their own half of the field of play.🇧🇷