At least they haven’t done anything in the last ten minutes. This is one of the rare positive points of the evening of the Blues, yesterday in Strasbourg. Moves, led to the score then to ten against eleven for forty-five minutes, they just obtained a draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina (1-1). A result neither reassuring nor refreshing two months after the nightmare experienced at the end of the match against Switzerland at the Euro.
Cohesion, where have you been?
OK, it lacked the usual holders (Kanté, Hernandez, Pavard and Rabiot). Granted, this re-entry period is rarely conducive to great performances. But all this does not excuse the whole match of the Blues. The team which was still able to hold a German siege in mid-June (1-0) cracks at the slightest headwind. In Alsace, it was Dzeko who took advantage of a failed pass from Lemar in the middle to beat Lloris with a cross strike (0-1, 36 ‘). Griezmann, with a goal from … back (1-1, 39th) then believed to put his own back on track. It would have been too easy. Just after the break (50th), Koundé, as needlessly as awkwardly, saw red after a nasty tackle. Outnumbered, not easy for Didier Deschamps’ men to show off their superiority. Especially when it seems to have disappeared along with their illusions about the Euro.
A trio without bite, sluggish jokers
The famous Benzema-Mbappé-Griezmann trident didn’t hurt many people last night. There were some nice combinations, some chills… but no tremor. Only the post, smashed by the Bondy rocket (27th). Benz ‘, he saw his strike countered while taking the right direction (13th). Otherwise ? Grizou has further streamlined everything he could, defended, revived, tackled. But all that unfortunately does not allow you to set goals. It must also be said that the famous trio was not helped by the usual substitutes not at the level. Lemar has missed almost everything, like Koundé, while Veretout has not been noticed. Only Tchouaméni, who entered after the break, met expectations.
Qatar will wait
Ukraine hanging on to Kazakhstan (2-2) yesterday afternoon, the Blues could take off at the top of their group in their qualifying group for the 2022 Qatari World Cup. Failed. Didier Deschamps’ players will have the opportunity to catch up on Saturday in Kiev, to almost complete the case.