France – Croatia
0 – 1
The end of the school year often rhymes with the beautiful days of report cards for schoolchildren, with the holidays in sight. The summer sweetness was present at the Stade de France, this Monday, June 13. As for the good assessments, it will be necessary to go back to the tricolor student, as a dabbler, probably already with his head turned towards the fine sand.
Lacking inspiration since the start of this gathering, the Blues were again struggling for their fourth match of the group stage of the League of Nations and lost to Croatia (1-0). The balance sheet for this month of June is therefore well below the standing of the reigning world champions: 2 defeats and 2 draws. France is guaranteed not to play the Final Four and will not retain its League of Nations title. Added to this accounting aspect, the lack of ideas and inspirations in the game was glaring.
Everything quickly started very badly for the players of Didier Deschamps against the Croats. On a corner, Konaté stepped on Budimir’s heel and conceded a penalty. Modric was quick to score his 22nd national goal (5th).
Mbappé active against the current
There was then time for the Blues to get back on the right track. But with this fourth game in eleven days, the organizations seemed to lack energy, caught up in a grueling season. In possession of the ball, it was necessary to wait long seconds before finding trace of a call. The rare alerts were to the credit of Mbappé. With his thrust, he put the Croatian defenders in difficulty on several occasions. In vain and not often in the right tempo.
On leaving the locker room, Deschamps brought in Tchouaméni and Pavard in place of Kamara and Koundé in difficulty. The new Madrid player brought a little more stability than his Marseille counterpart and was able to reassure his defense, as in this saving intervention in front of Pasalic (58th). In front, the Blues continued to approach Ivasic’s goal, without being really dangerous. And this is probably where the shoe pinches given the offensive armada available to France. At the end of additional time, Benzema thought he equalized but he stumbled on the Croatian goalkeeper.
After such performances, it will already be necessary to look to the future to forget these cutesy performances. At the end of the year, the most important deadline of 2022 arrives with the World Cup. And if the Blues want to claim to keep their crown, they will have to show a much better face. Hoping that the summer holidays will be regenerating for “the DD band”.