Sniff, sniff, don’t you smell? It’s only us where this draw for the groups of the 2022 World Cup has a hell of a flavor of 2018 for the France team? By inheriting Denmark and (very) possibly Australia or Peru – because it is hard to see New Zealand passing the cut of the play-offs –, the Blues will therefore find themselves facing two of the three teams with which they had already crossed iron in Russia. Level of originality, you will admit that it arises there…
Fortunately, Wahbi Khazri’s Tunisia is there to bring a touch of freshness to this big deja vu. Asked in the wake of the draw on RMC, the Stéphanois was over the moon: “I was talking about it with my wife and my brothers, that’s what I wanted, he said. to our colleagues. I’m very happy. They are the favourites, we are far from it. But playing in the French championship, having grown up here, it is the dream of many players to face them in the World Cup. It’s a dream that will come true I hope. »
The return of DD’s “pet”
We may be a tad jaded by this draw, let’s at least be satisfied with the return of the cat to DD. And this time it’s not (only) us who say it, it’s Bixente Lizarazu himself. On TMC, in full live, the 98 world champion indulged in a magnificent: “Didier’s pet has worked well”. MDR.
It’s true that with teams like Germany or the Netherlands in hat 2, we could have had a hell of a lot more heat in our buttocks, without insulting the Danes, semi-finalists of the last Euro, let’s remember same. And since you should never lose good habits, we are going to give you a quick overview of the state of form of our opponents and our opinion on the matches of the Blues at the World Cup.
- Denmark, a well-oiled collective (but downright takeable)
Semi-finalists of the last Euro after a cruel defeat against the English, the Danes finished first in their group during the playoffs, a logical result given the face of the opponents (Austria, Scotland, Moldova, Israel and the Faroe Islands). But the hot news from the Danish Dynamite is of course the return of Christian Eriksen, who scared us to death at the Euros after his heart attack in the middle of a match. Back in selection last week with a brand new pacemaker, the new player from Bradford even had the pleasure of scoring during his big comeback.
Our expert opinion Miami (old man’s ref, help): United as ever, the Danes remain a team to be taken very seriously, they who had rewarded us at the Euro with a polished collective game, super pleasant to watch. If we still put a big coin on our Blues, we especially hope not to see the filthy purge of 2018 again, at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, where the two teams had offered us the worst match (draw 0-0) of the entire World Cup .
- Tunisia, a first for the Blues in official competition
The Carthage Eagles did not have a superhuman effort to qualify for Qatar either. Coming out first in a group made up of Mauritania, Zambia and Equatorial Guinea, Wabbi Khazri’s teammates then hit Mali (1-0, 0-0) to validate their ticket.
Our Miami expert advice: Our Tunisian friends will certainly not blame us if we place France as the big favorite for this upcoming confrontation. Indeed, the last matches of the men of Mondher Kebaier, as well at the CAN as during the playoffs, did not leave an imperishable memory in the memory of their supporters. A chilly and defensive team as possible, Tunisia is not the type to score goals like pearls, even against supposedly weaker teams, as evidenced by its nine small pawns scored in its last ten games. No, frankly, at all cooked.
- Australia, Peru or United Arab Emirates, uh… How to put it?
Frankly ? Well frankly, we pass. We’ll see about that in due time if you don’t mind, it’s not as if the author of these lines wasn’t expected at the bar by his friends.