Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin, with AFP
modified to
8:27 p.m., March 26, 2023
Rejuvenated and enthusiastic, the French team of Kylian Mbappé passes a first test outside, Monday at 8:45 p.m. in Ireland, a trip made tricky by the local fervor but which can turn into a boulevard for Euro 2024 in the event of hit. After the “Oranje”, make way for the “Boys in green”, these “men in green” and their Aviva stadium in Dublin (less than 52,000 seats) announced to be full. It is a team “which does not correspond to the image we have of it abroad and which has evolved over the past two years”, warned Philippe Auclair in Europe 1 Sport (every evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Europe 1), before adding: “The Blues must be wary”.
“The commitment will be there, with the public growing well,” summed up coach Didier Deschamps. “It will be a much more difficult match than you might think,” added Kylian Mbappé in the match watch conference. In the wake of their new captain, the Tricolores brilliantly launched the qualifying campaign for the next European Championship, with a 4-0 victory against a decimated and disappointing Netherlands, Friday for their reunion with the Stade de France.
Irish “Generosity”
The trip to Ireland provides the Blues with a completely different atmosphere in the boiling lair of Lansdowne Road, fatal to their rugby counterparts a month earlier in the Six Nations Tournament (32-19). This time, there is no question of a Grand Slam or a clash at the top of the world rankings, since the Republic of Ireland only points to 48th place in the Fifa tables with a rather anonymous generation, absent from the last Euro and the last five World Cups.
“We tend, by its reputation, to think that it will be a rough team, but it is not the case. It is a team that plays football”, warns Mbappé. “This Irish team has always had this generosity, this enthusiasm” but it has a certain “technical quality too”, with a game “a little less direct”, more on the ground, adds Deschamps. “It’s an ambitious team in its intentions. It sets the game and try to play”, analyzed Philipe Auclair in Europe 1 Sport.
Victorious in Latvia
Exempt from meeting on the first day, Stephen Kenny’s men were indeed able to refine their preparation for this duel through a friendly match organized on Wednesday against Latvia, with a revamped team. They won 3-2 thanks to young nugget Evan Ferguson, 18, and Chiedozie Ogbene, decisive scorer two minutes after coming on.
Facing the Blues, “it’s a big test, but a test to be savored. This will be the main message for the boys”, assures the new assistant John O’Shea, former Manchester United. “With a full stadium, it’s a chance for us to show our young talents and our collective union”, continues the ex-defender, holder during the famous World Cup dam in 2009, marked by the hand of Thierry Henry.
Giroud in the rotation?
Since this confrontation, the France team has dominated the Irish twice, at Euro 2016 (2-1, doubled by Antoine Griezmann) then in preparation for the 2018 World Cup (2-0), with a goal of ‘Olivier Giroud. At 36, the number 9 hopes for a tenure in Dublin after starting France – Netherlands on the bench of substitutes. But Randal Kolo Muani impressed at Saint-Denis, redrawing the hierarchy of attackers.
Another place is perhaps to be taken on the right of the attack, with Marcus Thuram or even Moussa Diaby applying to push Kingsley Coman on the bench. The position of left winger is reserved for several years by an unstoppable Kylian Mbappé. The armband of the new captain does not seem to slow down an irremediable rise: after his double on Friday, the 24-year-old Parisian is on a crazy series of 20 goals in 17 matches in the blue jersey.
If Deschamps reserves the possibility of making changes depending on the state of form, places will be expensive in defense, the Konaté-Upamecano hinge already seems well established in front of goalkeeper Mike Maignan, as in the middle, where the Griezmann-Tchouaméni trio -Rabiot convinced.