From our special correspondent in Budapest,
The rotten third game theory takes a beating in the wing. The France team qualified for the round of 16 of Euro 2021 after a great football match where the Blues certainly did not always shine, but were able to ensure the main against a determined Portugal not to leave the competition of which he is the defending champion (2-2). Didier Deschamps’ men finish in first place in Group F and await Switzerland in the next round. Germany, eliminated for a time, also remains in the game.
Renato show
The Blues were delighted with the schedule of the match (9 p.m.) which, they thought, would make their life easier than last Saturday in the furnace of the Puskas Arena. No luck, given that it was even hotter Wednesday during the day, it was still a good thirty degrees at kickoff. And as everyone loves the heat except the French players, the Portuguese have returned to their business much better, like Losc player Renato Sanches, who won this Euro for the first time by Fernando Santos. The Lille environment was absolutely everywhere, with the climax of this monstrous body sham on Paul Pogba, who, good dancer he is, would have done well without dancing the samba on this one.
Tyson Lloris puts Deontay Pereira KO
It is therefore rather logical that the Seleção opened the scoring. Because apart from the failed face-to-face of Kylian Mbappé against Rui Patricio on a nice opening from Paul Pogba at the start of the meeting, the Blues, without ideas, were overtaken in the game and the duels by their opponent. Hugo Lloris won his own against Danilo Pereira on set piece, but he got the wrong sport. The nudges are in the octagon, not on a soccer field. Penalty, Ronaldo, goal, the Portuguese supporters accompany his “siiii”, but it is still the Hungarians that we hear the most at the Puskas Arena since Szalai’s opening scoring. The return of the bombonera.
Benzema, the machine is on
The chic of great teams is knowing how to strike when you no longer expect it. It is from this curious mixture of success and quiet strength – and the whistle of M.Lahoz – that came the penalty obtained by Kylian Mbappé on an opening, again, by Paul Pogba, still as strong in the role of quarterback. In a gesture of altruism that characterizes him so well, Antoine Griezmann lets Karim Benzema hit him with the risk that this implies. But this time, the Real Madrid striker does not tremble and responds to his buddy CR7 by equalizing. The machine is on and KB19 is determined to prove it: barely out of the locker room, he takes advantage of a poor alignment of the opposing defense to escape offside and goes off to deceive Rui Patricio with the help of the post. The routourne has turned.
The French left in pain
The only big downside of this beautiful summer evening, the left corridor of the French defense has decided to pay a vibrant tribute to the political world by disappearing before we even have time to notice it. Lucas Digne was injured a few minutes after replacing a Lucas Hernandez who had not sufficiently recovered from his problems to keep pace with the former Monegasque Bernardo Silva. As a result, DD played the handyman by bringing in Adrien Rabiot at the left side position. And you know what ? He didn’t do too badly. Funny for a boy who sulked at the idea of playing sentry when he was in Paris. On the right, it was not quite that for Jules Koundé. The Sevilla defender had a difficult baptism in Budapest. Guilty with one hand, he allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to equalize. However, Mr Lahoz could be reproached for not having wanted to whistle a third penalty at the very end of the match due to a fault on Coman. This time, French and Portuguese are leaving as good friends.