At the Stade de France,
Midnight is approaching in the mixed zone of the Stade de France. Rumors are circulating, we must not leave yet, Olivier Giroud could go through there. Actually no. We are signaled to pack up shop. Colleagues groan. “The Netherlands took four and three quarters of their team went here. Including Virgil van Dijk, very elegant even in defeat. ” The absents ? It doesn’t help, but it can’t excuse everything. We made mistakes”. The Dutch captain even pretended to be interested in Randal Kolo Muani, who he was asked for his opinion on. “He’s an international striker in the France team, so he’s a quality player, he’s doing a great job in Germany. »
On the French side, only three players came to us: first Aurélien Tchouaméni, then Eduardo Camavinga and, finally, Khephren Thuram. A trio fairly representative of the dynamics in place since the second period of the World Cup final: the youth took power in a French team orphaned by Lloris, Varane and Benzema. And we don’t lose out on the change, except that “a young person does not play in the same way as an experienced player”, as Cama analyzes while laughing, without really saying more. Well, we get the idea. More youth, more madness, generosity, movement, and less calculation.
Kolo Muani, banner of renewal
Randal Kolo Muani best embodies this idea of renewal. A mixture of dynamism, irreverence and altruism, it continues to fascinate after its emergence in Qatar. His ability to find his place on a front where he must nevertheless cohabit with Mbappé, Coman and Griezmann is precious. Many have broken their front teeth there (hello Wissam), he adapted to it without forcing it. “He has this ability to move, percussion, dribbling, appreciates Deschamps. There was good intelligence between the three attacking players, with Kingsley (Coman) and Kylian (Mbappé), who have no fixed position. “He was invaluable for us as a fulcrum”, underlines Tchouaméni, who does not forget the role without the ball of the former Nantes player on Mbappé’s first goal. “He took the defenders to him to free Kylian. The only thing missing is this goal that has eluded him since the half against Morocco.
Taken as a whole, this reservoir of interchangeable youngsters offers guarantees that lead to optimism, particularly in the offensive sector. Everyone speaks the same football and seems to agree to revolve around Mbappé, so that the changes of DD during the match had little impact on the background of the game. of the Netherlands encourages restraint, but we are entitled to think that a war machine is about to see the light of day.
Marcus Thuram bedroom Chephren
Finally, on a human level, we take pleasure in (re) discovering these new faces, whether they are shy like Khephren Thuram, funny like Camavinga or very first in the class, Tchouaméni style. All are skilful in the face of the media without hiding behind a language of wood that unfortunately Lloris and Varane mastered too well. We have a blast hearing Cadet Thuram say that Marcus “made fun of [sa] crushed strike” but that he remains “the best big brother whose [il aurait] could dream”. Certainly, the positive result promotes the festive atmosphere and nothing says that the faces will not close at the first gust of wind. But in the meantime, we really want to accompany this generation to see how far it is capable of going.