This weekend, l'équipe de France played their first game of 2024, in anticipation and preparation for the upcoming Euro tournament. They hosted Germany, which will be the host of the Euro tournament, in a friendly in Lyon, France.
Les Bleus better hope that they fare far better in the Euro tournament than they did against Germany this weekend. It took mere seconds for the Germans to take advantage and seize the lead. Toni Kroos, who came out of retirement to participate in international play, was able to get a very precise pass off to Florian Wirtz, who simply smashed the ball into the net, beating a frankly seemingly flatfooted French goalkeeper.
Kai Havertz was able to add some cushion in Germany's lead just minutes after the half. France did not seem to play particularly inspired, although they finally got some decent chances in the second half.
Still, this was not their day. Germany dominated, owning the time of possession, 58 percent to 42 percent. They also enjoyed more shots on goal, at 15 to 11, but were on target in six of those shots, compared to just two for France. Germany also enjoyed a decisive advantage in corners, with 5 to only 2 for France.
French coach Didier Deschamps, who won a World Cup as a player in 1998 and led France to another World Cup title in 2018, did not mince words about this loss:
"We weren't there, that's obvious," said France coach Didier Deschamps after his 150th game in charge. "The Germans played a high level match today. When we see our start to the match, with this goal, we are standing still.
"The Germans did things better than us. In terms of commitment and aggression, we were below. The first person to blame is me," he added.
Not a good start for Les Bleus. Let's see if they can recover well before the Euro tournament begins, because they will have to play far better than this if they hope to make some noise there.
Quotes and information used in this particular blog entry were taken from these two articles (see links below):
Germany beat hosts France 2-0 after record-breaking Wirtz goal Reuters March 23, 2024:
https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/germany-beat-hosts-france-2-0-with-record-breaking-wirtz-goal-2024-03-23/
France 0 Germany 2 FT HT 0-1 Wirtz (1'minutes), Havertz (49'minutes) Assists Kroos (1'minutes), Musiala (49'minutes) France 0-2 Germany: Florian Wirtz scores visitors' quickest international goal Last updated on23 March 202423 March 2024:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/68648714
Le résumé de France - Allemagne (0-2) I FFF 2024
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