The players of the France team concluded their rally in March with a narrow but important victory in Ireland on Monday (1-0).
For its first two qualifying matches for Euro 2024, the France team has had a clear round, with two wins and no goals conceded: 4-0 against the Netherlands on Friday, 1-0 in Ireland on Monday. In what looks like a new cycle, three months after the lost World Cup final, Didier Deschamps has found answers to certain questions. The successors of retirees (Benzema, Lloris, Varane) that he has identified have scored points, but there is still a gray area to be clarified.
Successful handover for Mike Maignan
180 minutes, no goals conceded. We could have said that recovering the place of Hugo Lloris, fresh record holder of selections in the France team, could make you dizzy, but Mike Maignan excelled in his first two outings as official number one goalkeeper. In the space of three days, he showed exceptional concentration, pulling out all the stops late in the game when he could have fallen asleep in the face of the lack of adversity on offer for nearly 80 minutes.
Against the Netherlands, the perfect collective performance of the Blues ended with the penalty from Memphis Depay which he stopped. In Ireland, he accomplished the feat of eclipsing Benjamin Pavard’s stunning goal thanks to his dive on the powerful head of Nathan Collins. A work of art worth two points. At the final whistle, all his teammates threw themselves at the AC Milan goalkeeper, who could not contain his very broad smile.
“Was I surprised by this stoppage? No. I know what he is capable of doing. Mike has all the qualities, the stature and also the mind because he is a leader. I I didn’t have any doubts or uncertainty about Mike. As long as he’s in full possession of his abilities, it’s a very high level.”rejoiced Didier Deschamps at a press conference after the victory in Dublin on Monday.
Ideal start of term for Captain Mbappé
That was the big question at the start of the rally. After a slight latency, Didier Deschamps inducted Kylian Mbappé as the new captain of the France team, after eleven years of leadership entrusted to Hugo Lloris. Despite being 24 years old and Antoine Griezmann’s disappointment at not being the lucky one, it didn’t take long for the Paris Saint-Germain striker to be convincing in his new role.
“A good captain is someone who is above all team-oriented, capable of being a unifier, unifying, of taking others in his wake. I don’t want to decide, to impose . I want to open up the possibility for others to express themselves. When we are all together, we can do great things. It would be a mistake to upset all that.”warned the person concerned during his first press conference, managed with great ease.
The next day, he only took a minute and 55 seconds to be decisive with the armband, offering the opener against the Netherlands to … Antoine Griezmann. After this perfect start, both sportingly and diplomatically, Mbappé offered himself a nice double, first improving Randal Kolo Muani’s subtle body feint, before doing everything alone at the end of the match to seal the 4-0. A perfect start to his reign, which even his discreet performance in Ireland could not spoil.
>> To read also: Euro 2024 qualifiers: an ideal first for captain Mbappé against the Netherlands
On the right, the debate persists
During this gathering, the French team made a successful transition after the international retirements of its executives, Raphaël Varane and Hugo Lloris. The midfielder Tchouameni-Rabiot-Griezmann, the Upamecano-Konaté hinge, the system with four defenders… All the solutions found during the World Cup have been reinforced. On the other hand, a big question remained unanswered and it concerns the identity of the two players on the right side.
Behind, Jules Koundé had taken over in Qatar after the fall from grace of Benjamin Pavard following the match against Australia. But, after remaining on the bench against the Netherlands, Pavard gave victory to the Blues in Ireland by scoring the only goal of the meeting. A goal he went for alone, scratching the ball before catapulting it into the cage with the help of the crossbar. The Bavarian side is well back in the race in a very open sector, where his main competitor, Koundé, has not yet won unanimous support.
In front, Ousmane Dembélé was absent because injured. Holder on the right at the World Cup, the latter remained on a completely missed final. Kingsley Coman had chances to score but was rather disappointed against the Netherlands before being benched in the second game, physically impacted. Randal Kolo Muani evolved in this position in Ireland and his performance rather pleased Didier Deschamps: “Even if he is above all a central striker, he doesn’t mind playing on one side. So he necessarily takes up space, with what he has achieved in these two games”. The Frankfurt striker now seems to be the number 2 choice in attack behind Kylian Mbappé, but nothing says that he will settle on the right.