Failing to have mastered their subject from A to Z, the Blues raised the bar by winning 3-2 on Tuesday in their last match before the list for Euro 2024, which will be revealed on May 16.
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A victory as a final note before looking ahead to Euro 2024. The Blues logically dominated Chile (3-2), Tuesday March 26, at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille. A reaction was expected three days after the slap received against Germany in Lyon (0-2). Nor is it enough to pass off this last gathering as a real success before flying to Germany next summer.
Because Didier Deschamps’ players once again started their match very badly, to the point of being behind after only six minutes of play. Totally passive, the French rearguard left far too much time and space to Marcelino Núñez, in an armchair to deceive Mike Maignan with a cross shot (6th). A second blow to the head came two minutes later, when Jonathan Clauss went off with an injury. The Marseillais, who could take advantage of this tenure in his stadium to score points to be part of the list for the Euro, is the victim of a torn left ischio according to the staff of the France team.
Kolo Muani scores points
Despite this nightmarish start, this team, largely reshuffled compared to the shock against Germany (nine changes), weathered the storm. The Chilean pressure weakened considerably and it was with a touch of success that Youssouf Fofana equalized, with a long shot from his bad foot, deflected by an opposing defender (19th). Already in sight against Greece in November, the Monegasque scored his third goal from outside the area with the Blues this season and asserts himself as an interesting option behind the usual midfield starters.
On this momentum, Randal Kolo Muani, hyperactive and best French player of the evening, gave the Blues the advantage by going higher than two Chilean defenders on a cross from Théo Hernandez (26th). Criticized with PSG and lacking confidence, the striker quite simply signed his best performance of the season. It was he who did all the work on the third and final French goal, given to Olivier Giroud after a nice slalom (72nd).
Clauss and Camavinga, bad timing
In his image, or that of Fofana, the players who had not started against Germany gave Didier Deschamps reason to line them up. The only two players to have started three days earlier completely missed out on their meeting. Kylian Mbappé was particularly messy and individualistic, and Aurélien Tchouameni is guilty of being too far away on Chile’s two goals, whether against Nunez or Osorio (82nd).
If, at the microphone of TF1, Théo Hernandez and Youssouf Fofana spoke about “controlled match”, things were not as clear Tuesday evening. The Blues conceded “two avoidable goals”, says Didier Deschamps, facing an aging team that is no longer among the top names on his continent (42nd in the Fifa rankings). In addition to Jonathan Clauss, Eduardo Camavinga also went out injured, hit in the left ankle just before half-time (43rd). With less than two less of the list for Euro 2024, any physical problem is subject to concern, obviously.