Yesterday, l'équipe de France got back into action with a game against Wales in a friendly.
It was a fairly easy one for Les Bleus, who managed to dominate the game, and ultimately, to blank their weaker opponents.
French superstar Kylian Mbappé broke through first, scoring in the 34th minute to give France the early 1-0 lead.
It remained a one goal game through the duration of the first half. However, early in the second half, Antoine Griezmann broke through with a goal to expand France's lead to 2-0.
Finally, Ousmane Dembélé iced the win for Les Bleus with a goal, giving them a commanding 3-0 lead, with time quickly expiring.
The tough defense by the French side secured the win, as the defending World Cup champions earned a nice win to begin the summer season for 2021. They have another date soon, next week (on Tuesday, June 8th) in Bulgaria, and then a big showdown against one of their biggest rivals, Germany, the week after that, on June 15th.
L'équipe de France s'offre une victoire tranquille (3-0) face à un Pays de Galles trop rapidement réduit à dix par Thymoté Pinon, 1 juin, 2021:
L'équipe de France a largement pris le meilleur sur un Pays de Galles trop rapidement réduit à dix pour tirer de vrais enseignements. Pour son grand retour, Karim Benzema a manqué un penalty et touché le poteau au cours d'une soirée qui l'aura vu manquer de réussite.
https://www.francefootball.fr/news/L-equipe-de-france-s-offre-une-victoire-tranquille-3-0-face-a-un-pays-de-galles-trop-rapidement-reduit-a-dix/1258448
That upcoming game against Germany is actually the first game for both teams in the upcoming Euro, which was supposed to be held last year but which was postponed for reasons which don't require any elaboration on my part. They're in what's arguably the ultimate "Group of Death", since three of the four teams are part of international soccer's elite: reigning world champions France, reigning European champions Portugal and perennial powerhouse and 2014 world champions Germany. Hungary rounds out the group, and isn't expected to go far considering their opponents, although you never know.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense. I knew that the Euro was coming around sooner or later, as they are not likely to cancel an event that big, but instead push it off to the next year, like they did with the Tokyo Olympics, which may or may not take place later this year.
DeleteMy understanding is that the Tokyo Olympics will take place, despite the numerous obstacles, COVID-19 of course chief among them. However, it remains uncertain whether or not fans will be in attendance. Add to that the fact that 10,000 volunteers have dropped out, and that by and large the Japanese are evidently lukewarm at best at the prospect of hosting the games (a bit like the Brazilians were towards the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro), and you've got the perfect storm for anticlimactic games that will largely be forgotten, or perhaps remembered for unfortunate reasons. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it seems as though postponing until 2022 might have been preferable to insisting on hosting the games as soon as possible. At any rate, even if the world of course has far greater problems at the moment, part of me feels badly for Japan. The Olympics are supposed to provide a fun escape from routine, and an opportunity to get caught up in the spirit of the games. That hardly seems applicable at the moment.
ReplyDeleteYes, I largely agree with you on every point that you make about the Tokyo Olympics. Not sure why they felt it absolutely necessary to rush the games, and why they could not have waited until next year. Guessing there were business considerations, but that level of inflexibility there probably proved costly for what may well be forgettable games.
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