the timid Blues concede a bland 0-0 just before the Euro

For its last preparation match before the Euro, which begins on Friday, the France team was held in check by the Canucks (0-0) on Sunday in Bordeaux.

The Euro in everyone’s heads and legs already in their suitcases. Despite an exciting and convincing start to the match, the French team could do no better than a 0-0 draw against Canada, at Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux, Sunday June 9.

Ambitious in the first act, the Blues gradually decreased in intensity, even conceding numerous situations to their opponents upon returning from the locker room. If the collective result is ultimately disappointing, certain players like William Saliba or Ousmane Dembélé stood out, while N’Golo Kanté played the entire match.

We shouldn’t have expected big flights from Didier Deschamps’ men, the content of the match proved them right. Eight days before their big debut at the Euro, against Austria in Düsseldorf on Monday (9 p.m.), the Blues played a two-part score, with very different sounds. Initially offensive and dangerous on the goal of Maxime Crépeau, the Canadian goalkeeper, the French lost the thread of their match, only to find it again in the last minutes, without adding efficiency.

Meanwhile, the chronic clumsiness of the Canucks forwards has long allowed France not to be led, while William Saliba acted as firefighter on duty (66th and 78th) and Liam Millar hit the bar with a curling shot at the start of the second half (47th).

Opposed to an opponent that it had not faced since 1986, the French team took care to maintain good Franco-Canadian relations by not forcing the decision, while Canada, in preparation for the Copa America, showed some good things on his side.

Playing mainly in transition, thanks to the good work done in the midfield by Stephen Eustaquio and Ismaël Koné, who between them have nine recovered balls, the visitors could well have left with victory. However, Jonathan David and Cyle Larin would have needed more bite, to name only them, the Reds failing to score any of their nine attempts.

Captain for his last on French soil, Olivier Giroud will have long symbolized the lack of finishing of the Blues who nevertheless managed to obtain several hot situations. In the first half hour, N’Golo Kanté first came up against the opposing goalkeeper on a good ball from Ousmane Dembélé (8th), Marcus Thuram hit the bar straight away after a move from three (10th) while Antoine Griezmann came close to hitting the target (19th).

If a few crosses reached Olivier Giroud, the New Californian did not know how to exploit the offerings, while Randal Kolo Kuani missed the match point with a header alone in front of goal (90th). Kylian Mbappé, substitute and preserved at the kick-off, played the last quarter of an hour, obtaining a last opportunity at the last second, while there is concern for Théo Hernandez, hit in the knee and left as a precaution at the break, replaced by Ferland Mendy.