In the France team, South Africa inevitably brings back very bad memories. To talk about it is to immerse yourself in the failed 2010 World Cup in the great widths and in these incessant controversies which followed the Blues for months. So when Raphaël Varane was asked a question on the subject yesterday at a pre-match press conference, the central defender preferred to mention the “positive“: “We learn from the past. Since then, there have been changes at all levels and I prefer to see the positive that it has brought to the France team.“
Twelve years have passed, only Hugo Lloris was present at the time and things have changed: the Blues have since snatched a new world title and are aiming for a new one in Qatar at the end of the year. On the way to this epic, South Africa presents itself on Tuesday March 29 for a second friendly match, this time at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille, four days after the victory in Marseille against Côte d’Ivoire (2- 1). A sluggish success, which calls for better.
While the World Cup will start in eight months, Didier Deschamps knows that he only has seven games left to prepare for the competition as well as possible. The coach recalled it yesterday: the League of Nations meetings in June and September will have an issue – that of retaining the title acquired in October in the competition -, of course, but they will mainly be used to continue preparation for the World Cup. .
One game, many changes
It is therefore in Lille, six years after their last appearance at Euro 2016, that the Blues will play a second friendly match against South Africa 68th in the FIFA rankings. An opposition far from unplayable for the Blues, especially in a sold-out Pierre-Mauroy stadium where nearly 50,000 people are expected. But it remains a team capable of causing problems for the men of Didier Deschamps, as Côte d’Ivoire was able to do.
Standby training #ProudToBeBlues pic.twitter.com/0emPXtNR3Y
— French team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) March 28, 2022
While he had announced that he wanted “see as many people as possible“, during these two games, the coach waited until the last quarter of an hour on Friday to make several changes. A sign that he surely wanted to see how the team, which was getting closer to its eleven-type, could get rid of the Ivorian threat She did it, with difficulty and at the end of a messy second half, but the victory was at the end.
Against South Africa, make way for changes. Because Deschamps knows that some players need to adapt to the 3-4-1-2 system installed since September. This is the case of Varane, who will live his 18th match as captain of the Blues this evening, and who explained his acclimatization to this new tactic yesterday: “These are different benchmarks. In terms of recovery, it’s different, you have to find passing angles that I’m less used to.“
A first tenure in Lille for Lensois Clauss?
Facing Ivory Coast, Deschamps saw the defensive difficulties of his team in the first period. He assumed them yesterday at a press conference: “They gave us problems, but they didn’t solve the problems we gave them. The ideal is to create and not suffer, but there is also the quality of the adversary which can put us in difficulty. A clear penchant for attack, unusual for the coach, who is always looking for a balance between defense and attack.
This could be brought by N’Golo Kanté who will return tonight while Paul Pogba and Aurélien Tchouaméni could be left on the bench. Absent in the first match for family reasons, Kanté has only played one game with the Blues since the Euros, and his return will inevitably do good in the middle. Just like that of Kylian Mbappé. Past the questions of boycotting marketing operations, recovered from his ENT infection, the PSG striker will be able to work on his automatisms with Antoine Griezmann, in the absence of Karim Benzema with whom he has an innate technical relationship.
This match at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium will also be an opportunity to see the welcome reserved for several players, starting with the pistons, or “lane players” as Deschamps calls them. Lucas Digne, former LOSC, should start as Jonathan Clauss. He, the Lensois, who is discovering the international level, knows that he will have to convince quickly to have a chance to play in the next World Cup.
Keep this rage to win
Asked about potential whistles against him, Varane, trained at RC Lens, dismissed this hypothesis: “There is no particular fear. (…) We hope for the warmest welcome possible.Clauss certainly shouldn’t get the clamor from the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, like William Saliba at the Stade Vélodrome last Friday. during the tactical set-up, alongside Varane and Presnel Kimpembe and in front of Mike Maignan who will celebrate his second selection in front of his former public.
This match will therefore be an opportunity for everyone to showcase themselves eight months before the World Cup, under the watchful eyes of Deschamps. The latter still has a solid base but is looking for soldiers who can accompany the executives to Qatar, with profiles who can quickly fit into this demanding 3-4-1-2 system. The arrival of three newcomers (Saliba, Clauss, Nkunku) at this gathering says it all.
9 – The French team have not lost any of their last 9 matches after conceding the opener (4 wins, 5 draws) and have won the most recent 3 (against Belgium, Spain and Côte d’Ivoire). Stunning. #FRACIV pic.twitter.com/3l28nyTP7g
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) March 25, 2022
Four days after a laborious victory against Côte d’Ivoire, it is now time for improvement. Lose the habit of conceding the first goal (eight times in the last eleven games), keep this rage to win that has made France invincible since November 2020, refine the defensive phases and offensive animation, and continue to discover new heads that will make up the French team of tomorrow in Qatar. With that, the Blues have plenty to do.