Failing to be as flamboyant as against Armenia (7-0), five days earlier, the France Espoirs team at least had the good idea to preserve the essential. A goal from Pierre Kalulu, following a defensive error by Jovan Manev (75th), allowed him to leave the winner of his trip to North Macedonia on Tuesday evening (1-0). Main consequence: the gap at the top of group H remains unchanged. Les Bleuets keep three points ahead of Ukraine, winner (2-1) against Serbia.
A very difficult lawn
For the rest, the contrast was striking between the production delivered this Tuesday in Skopje and the demonstrations of the last three matches against Ukraine (5-0), Serbia (3-0) and Armenia. In question: too many technical inaccuracies and bad choices on an admittedly difficult lawn. It would also have been necessary to put more rhythm and movement against a well-grouped opponent. With the exception of a header from Benoît Badiashile (34th), a strike on the upright from Maxence Caqueret (37th) and another off-target attempt from Rayan Cherki (38th), the Bleuets do not have one. does enough.
The release finally came with an opening by Caqueret for Kalulu, while Amine Adli (64th) and Cherki (67th) had requested David Denkovski a few minutes earlier. Sign that the same causes do not always produce the same effects: the Bleuets found the fault after the exits of Sofiane Diop and Cherki while Sylvain Ripoll had opted for the same eleven as the one who had shone against Armenia. For the manner, it will be necessary to iron.