This match between the France Espoirs team and the Ivory Coast may have been friendly (3-2), but it had several challenges for the players as well as their coach, on the way to the next Olympic Games.
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The Olympic adventure of the French football team will therefore have begun in Châteauroux. The Bleuets began their preparation on Friday March 22 with a lively friendly match against an eye-catching Ivory Coast (3-2). The score was opened in the 38th minute of play by Désiré Doué, but the Ivorians equalized at the start of the second half, before worsening the score.
We had to wait around twenty minutes before Wilson Odobert found the Ivorian net in his turn (2-2, 72nd). Then, at the very end of the match, Désiré Doué managed to score the goal of deliverance (84th). A close victory which can be explained by the fact that Thierry Henry’s players must have been slightly stressed by this return to blue, while they are trying to earn their place in the Olympic team.
“The guys came back [à Clairefontaine], I felt joy” had nevertheless declared the coach to the Team, before the meeting. Among the players recalled by Thierry Henry, the two midfielders Khéphren Thuram and Manu Koné animated the game, and Lucas Chevalier reassured. The 22-year-old Lille goalkeeper demonstrated that he had not stolen his place as captain, saving several dangerous situations. Note that Parisian Bradley Barcola left in the 28th minute, injured in the thigh, as did Ryan Cherki, injured in the shin.
A test also for Paris 2024
This friendly match had a lot at stake for each of the 21 players called up: it was one of the last opportunities for them to win their place for Paris 2024. As a reminder, theThe French Olympic team must be made up, by Thierry Henry, of a majority of players aged under 23, with only three others being able to deviate from this age limitation.
The squad could still change between now and the Bleuets’ next match, Monday in Sochaux, against the United States. Which will constitute a sort of dress rehearsal since the USA will be the first opponents who will stand in the way of the French Olympic team in Marseille, on July 24. As for the Olympic list, it should only be officially revealed in mid-May by Thierry Henry.