Five days after the fireworks display from his players against Armenia on the side of Grenoble (7-0), Sylvain Ripoll this time had to be patient so that his foals found the net on Tuesday, November 16. The Bleuets took it several times to score a small goal and bring back the three points of the national stadium Tose-Proeski, in Skopje, against North Macedonia (1-0).
The deliverance came from the right side, Pierre Kalulu, on a billiard (76th). The AC Milan player took advantage of a poor clearance from an opposing defender to push the ball into the empty goal and score his second goal for the Espoirs, the second against North Macedonia after that of last September ( 3-0).
FINALLY THE GOAL OF HOPES!
Pierre Kalulu opens the scoring against North Macedonia after a magnificent pass from Caqueret
0⃣-1⃣ pic.twitter.com/oXJoUrYy7f
– Canal Football Club (@CanalFootClub) November 16, 2021
If it took until the last quarter of an hour for France to find the opening, it is because the Bleuets have long lacked precision in the last movement on a difficult lawn. And the biggest opportunities, from the strike of Maxence Caqueret (37th) to that of Amine Adli (64th) through the head of Arnaud Kalimuendo (71st), were brilliantly rejected by the Macedonian goalkeeper, Hristijan Denkovski.
By aligning the same starting eleven as last Thursday against Armenia, Sylvain Ripoll certainly expected the same success as his team has shown since the start of qualifying in September (20 goals scored, one conceded since September) . It will not have happened and the Bleuets coach can even thank his goalkeeper Illan Meslier, author of a good save in front of Mario Ilievski (40th), on the only real opportunity of North Macedonia.
This victory allows the France Espoirs team to retain first place in Group H in these qualifiers for Euro 2023 and above all three points ahead of Ukraine, which had won at the start of the afternoon. against Serbia (2-1). Before their next rally in March and a match to be played against the Faroes on the 24th, the Bleuets end the year 2021 on a high note. Hoping that the A imitate them against Finland tonight.