France winning.
Not spared from the glitches in recent weeks and again since the start of the rally, the Blues took a good breath of fresh air Tuesday evening at al-Wakrah.
And the 3 dots.
Victory 4-1 against Socceroos quickly relegated to the rank of sparring-partners.
A match that for a time seemed to get off to a bad start, but which finally made it possible to answer a certain number of questions.
We can for example highlight the solid performance of the central hinge Dayot Upamecano-Ibrahima Konaté.
While waiting for the return of Raphaël Varane, we can count on them.
A lesson, not the only one...
To discover
Download the Le Figaro Sport application and follow the adventure of the Blues in Qatar
World Cup: group classification
Full World Cup match schedule
A good starting point
Relying on their force of percussion on the sides (Mbappé and Dembélé), their presence in front of goal (Giroud) and a technical leader of the caliber of Antoine Griezmann, the Blues recited attractive football against Australia .
Like the second goal, with this high recovery from Adrien Rabiot at the start, the Blues were also able to hinder their opponents in the first restarts.
They will have to press in this register.
One of the points to emphasize, to improve.
Not the only one.
We expect more from Ousmane Dembélé, Aurélien Tchouaméni.
We also saw too often the team unbalanced in the first period.
“We had to find our bearings without the ball.
These are automatisms to create, communicate well to hinder the opponents' ball exits.
These are small things to adjust”
, notes Olivier Giroud, referring to the positioning of Griezmann
(read below).
In the end, the world champions
"managed well"
this match,
"it's a good basis",
summarizes Rabiot.
Antoine Griezmann, the hybrid man
He is not going as fast as Kylian Mbappé, is not as surgical as Olivier Giroud and does not have the support of Ousmané Dembélé, but Antoine Griezmann remains just as essential to this French team.
In the work of the shadows and the desire to make its partners shine, it is difficult to find a better element than "Grizou".
“Antoine is a midfielder at heart, with a sense of sacrifice and a high volume of play,
attests Olivier Giroud.
It's a position he can take on completely."
Tuesday evening, the 2018 world champion perfectly fulfilled the hybrid role requested by Didier Deschamps, sometimes in support of Olivier Giroud, sometimes in the heart of the game when it was necessary to fight and lend a hand to the Tchouaméni-Rabiot duo.
“It's not a sacrifice, he likes it
, specifies the coach about a leader who remains on 68 consecutive games played with the Blues, a record.
Antoine gives balance to the other three attackers and, when smart players have quality, they speak the same football
.
»
Reaction Blues
The glass half empty: a start as sluggish as against Australia could cost more in the future, against opponents of a higher caliber.
The glass half full: the team reacted quickly.
And this despite the goal conceded in the 9th minute and the injury of Lucas Hernandez.
"Often, when you lose a teammate and you know it's serious, it can get into your head," said
Hugo Lloris, not failing to appreciate the
"very good comeback"
of Théo Hernandez in place of his brother.
With the essential Kylian Mbappé and the surprising Adrien Rabiot, it is indeed the Milanese who helped to sound the revolt after this start chin-caha.
“We could have rushed, not taken the time to build the actions.
There was serenity and it's a good thing because we will need it, ”
analyzes the captain of the France team.
With a character like that, and the certainty that,
"the star is the team",
the players of Didier Deschamps can see coming to this World Cup.
Hernandez forfeit, a new problematic blow
Didier Deschamps had a tight smile Tuesday evening in the spans of the al-Janoub stadium when discussing the knee injury of Lucas Hernandez, package for the rest of the World Cup a few minutes late.
“
If we want to be quiet, we have to take 33 players and triple the positions
”, plague “DD” with regard to a saturated blue infirmary (Pogba, Kanté, Kimpembe, Maignan, Nkunku, Benzema).
The Blues lost their warrior on Tuesday, present in 2018 and who fit perfectly with the coach's idea of solidity and rigor.
There is now another problem: in the event of a glitch from Theo Hernandez, there would no longer be a specialist available at the left-back position.
Worrying?
“I will find a solution”,
sweeps Deschamps, annoyed.
The big black spot of this start to the World Cup in the blue sky.