Patrick Vieira, the former Arsenal midfielder, has left ITV's World Cup coverage with immediate effect after France's 2-0 semi-final defeat to Spain. Host Mark Pougatch issued a farewell message to Vieira during the broadcast, thanking him for his contributions throughout the tournament.
Pougatch's farewell to Vieira
As Vieira sat alongside Roy Keane, Ian Wright, and Gary Neville in the ITV studio, Pougatch said: “Patrick, it’s been great to have you with us at this World Cup. Sorry you’re not here this weekend. But it’s been great to have you with us and thank you very much for contributions. Very, very enjoyable indeed.”
Vieira had been part of ITV's punditry team for the tournament, providing analysis on France's matches until their exit. He watched on as his compatriots were outplayed by Spain, with Kylian Mbappe kept quiet throughout the game.
Spain's dominant performance
Spain's victory was built on a solid defensive display that nullified France's attacking threats. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente expressed pride in his team's performance, stating: “We’re so proud. This amazing generation of players has such a great attitude and is a role model for so many different values. We are united for a common cause. Now we have the last step, the toughest one. We’ll have to improve and we’ll try to do so.”
De la Fuente also highlighted Spain's progression through the tournament: “Of course we would have loved to win the first game but this is a process and it was all planned for us to reach these key moments in the best shape possible. Now we are in great shape, the players are very excited and we have reached a peak after this long season.”
France's disappointment
French manager Didier Deschamps admitted his team fell short on the day. “We are disappointed of course, the players are deflated,” he said. “The ambition was there, we are not lacking ambition. We are a group of competitors and there are some things we didn’t do well.”
Deschamps added: “I don’t want to take away from or throw away everything they’ve done so far. We should have been more dangerous on the pitch and made the game more difficult for Spain. We should have been 100% at our technical level as well as our physical level. We were not at 100% today unfortunately.”
Looking ahead
Spain now await the winner of the second semi-final between England and Argentina, which takes place on Wednesday night at 8pm in Atlanta. The match will determine who faces Spain in the World Cup final.
