Ousmane Dembele should have been substituted after just FIFTEEN minutes, claims FOX pundit Alexi Lalas… as he labels ‘awful’ winger’s foul on Angel Di Maria ‘dumb’
Alexi Lalas lambasted ‘awful’ Ousmane Dembele at halftime of the World Cup Final between France and Argentina after the winger was hauled off in the 41st minute.
Dembele helped Argentina open the scoring after his foul on Angel di Maria led to a Lionel Messi penalty goal, while di Maria’s goal in the 36th minute at the end of a counterattack extended the score to 2-0.
Five minutes after that, Dembele and Olivier Giroud were both hauled off, with Dembele getting heavily criticized on the FOX halftime show.
‘He got subbed in the 41st minute, he should’ve been taken out after 15 minutes,’ Lalas said.
Landon Donovan added to Lalas’ sentiment, saying Dembele was caught in ‘no man’s land’ before bringing down di Maria in the box.
‘[Di Maria] absolutely abused [Dembele] Rob, and I have a problem with modern wingers, in these moments they don’t know how to defend.’
Meanwhile, Di Maria was lauded as the ‘player of the half’ by Clint Dempsey after his contributions to both goals.
If Argentina can hold onto their lead, it would be Messi’s first World Cup title.
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