What better match than this meeting at the Ernst-Happel stadium, Friday, June 10, so that the Blues turn on the light? In the enclosure which experienced a power outage before the match against Denmark on Monday, the French team wants to catch up after having been caught out in the last minutes by Denmark at the Stade de France (1-2) then trapped in the hot atmosphere of the Poljud stadium in Split against Croatia (1-1).
The objective is clear when approaching this third match of the month of June: to win. Since the start of the gathering, and already during the one in March, Didier Deschamps has kept repeating that these matches serve as preparation for the World Cup which will take place in Qatar at the end of the year (from November 21 to December 18). ).
There are only four games left before the start of the World Cup and we will have to reassure ourselves after two poor performances against Denmark and Croatia, even if the boiling atmosphere at the end of the match in Split served as a good test for the the most inexperienced young French players.
“We are in the nails“with regard to the preparation for the World Cup, wanted to reassure Didier Deschamps at a press conference on Thursday, while specifying that”the level of the French team is judged through the major tournaments“. The problem is that France is currently playing one, of tournament. And that it does not shine particularly in this League of Nations, with only one point taken in two games.
So much so that the competition, won by the Blues last October, seems to have been partly sacrificed over these first two days on the altar of preparation for the World Cup and rotation to breathe some players and test some others. Denmark, meanwhile, are in first place in Group 1 with six points taken from a possible six.
“We are back to the wall in this group phase. We are short of points so we have to win to hope to continue in this competition“, launched a determined Hugo Lloris on Thursday. Finally, the objectives of the month of June of the Blues intersect for this match against Austria: test a new system (Deschamps could nevertheless continue with a defense at four), test new players (Ibrahima Konaté could know his first selection), win to build up confidence for the World Cup and finally stay alive in this League of Nations.
100 – Ibrahima Konaté could become the 100th player to play for the France team under the Didier Deschamps era. Can you find the other 99? OptaQuiz. @French team @FFF https://t.co/qp8jfZAPLN
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) June 9, 2022
Preparing for the World Cup and retaining the title in the League of Nations, “the two are not incompatible“, underlined Deschamps on Thursday. The victory seems more important than in the last two previous games, because a third unsuccessful meeting would stain and would still raise doubts which are beginning to emerge in the environment of the France team in five months of the Qatari appointment.
So much so that the Blues appear ready to abandon the way to win tonight. “We are looking for good performances, but sometimes you have to know how to win in another wayinsisted Hugo Lloris yesterday. When you’re up against Croatia, you’re leading 1-0 fifteen minutes from the end and you’re looking for a good game, maybe you have to be able to make the right decisions, to close the game. As we knew how to do in the past, playing a little less well, but to win in a little different way.”
A tone in the speech that had become rarer lately, since the Blues had accustomed us to winning with a certain panache, like against South Africa in March (5-0) or Kazakhstan in November (8-0). Or like in October, during the Final Four of the League of Nations, with two admittedly irregular successes against Belgium and Spain, but with a breathless spectacle and an assumed imbalance towards the offensive.
To restart the machine, it will be necessary to get rid of a good Austrian team on Friday, which beat Croatia at home (3-0) before losing, when the way was there, against Denmark (1-2) . The Austrian selection, which will not participate in the next World Cup, is reviving according to local media, with a more attractive game advocated by neo-coach Ralf Rangnick, just landed from Manchester United.
Austria therefore represents a well-identified threat in this Group 1.”This team has a real game identity with a big pressing“, explained Lloris yesterday, when Deschamps found the Austrian selection”impressive on dynamism, physical freshness. (…) Collectively, they put a lot of intensity. I expect that too for Friday’s game“. At the end of the season where bodies are bruised and minds tired, where nothing seems easy for the Blues, a victory would do the greatest good.