For his first on the bench as a coach and not as an assistant, Guy Stéphan experienced the torments of a defeat. Interim coach in the absence of Didier Deschamps, he saw the France team be beaten by Denmark (1-2), Friday June 3, at the Stade de France, for the first match of the League of Nations.
Guy Stéphan recalled at a press conference on Thursday that Denmark is a team “undervalued“. An excuse already ready before facing this selection three times in the year, in the League of Nations then in the World Cup? This reminder in any case made sense because despite the opener of Benzema, it was the Danes who came away with the victory thanks to a double from Andreas Cornelius.
The Blues successively lacked inspiration, found the opening and then released a victory which seemed to reach out to them. They will be able to blame themselves and wonder how Cornelius, who came on in the second period, was able to turn the game around with two splendid goals. The first by rushing into a gaping space left by the Hernandez brothers (68th), the second by taking advantage of a poor alignment of the defense of the Blues (88th).
Suddenly, the 75,833 supporters present at the Stade de France fell silent in the face of this cold wind coming from Scandinavia, taken by the stupor of a reversal of the situation which seemed to them improbable thirty minutes earlier. At that point in the match, the Blues were leading, thanks to a goal from Karim Benzema.
On a relay with Christopher Nkunku, he eliminated two Danish defenders before concluding (48th). A goal to zero for the Blues, the evening could finally begin. Because the first period of the Tricolores was very dull, despite two attempts by the favorite for the next Ballon d’Or: a magnificent raid concluded with a blocked shot (13th) and goal disallowed for an offside position (15′).
24 – Denmark are the 24th team against which Karim Benzema has found the net with the France team, only Thierry Henry (37) and Olivier Giroud (30) have done better with the Blues. Festival. @French team #FRADAN pic.twitter.com/iOJVgVp1VP
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) June 3, 2022
Benzema’s nice goal allowed the Blues to believe it. The performance of Hugo Lloris too. The tricolor goalkeeper had kept the Blues in the game, thanks to two big saves in front of Skov Olsen (72nd) and Eriksen (86th). Insufficient to prevent the former Bordelais Cornelius from giving victory to Denmark thanks to a double.
A first defeat since November 2020
With this defeat and after seven consecutive successes, the Blues lost for the first time since November 2020 and a setback against another northern country, Finland (0-2). France were beaten at home in their first Nations League game, despite not losing once in the edition they won last October.
1 – It’s the first time since March 23, 2018 against Colombia, already at the Stade de France (2-3), that France loses after opening the scoring, the end of a series of 34 games without losing in this case (32 wins, 2 draws). Blunt. #FRADAN pic.twitter.com/0FAgLZmybd
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) June 3, 2022
Fortunately for them, the gathering does not stop there and will be still long. There are three games left to play in the next ten days for the Blues, against Croatia and Austria. It remains to be seen whether Mbappé (hit in the knee) and Varane (physical problem in the thigh), injured during the match, will be able to find their place on the field. A reaction will be expected next Monday, during the trip to Split, to face the Croats who suffered the same fate as the Blues by losing heavily at home against Austria (0-3).