Unsurprisingly, the French team dominated Israel (1-4) Thursday evening in the League of Nations, in a gloomy atmosphere in Hungary.
There are evenings that should not be missed, otherwise you will see criticisms pour in and doubts deepen. If no one will climb the curtain after the great success of the Blues against Israel (1-4) – there is nothing wrong with the 79th FIFA nation – we must nevertheless salute the seriousness and application of this French team “new era”. Without forcing their talent or completely convincing, aware of their superiority and with a much larger squad, like the copies made by Nkunku, Camavinga or the attractive entries into play by Guendouzi and Barcola, Didier Deschamps’ men extricated themselves of the Hungarian quagmire, in the atmosphere of a second-rate match. A success which allows us to calmly turn towards the trip to Brussels on Monday, against Belgium. Belgians authors of a draw against Italy (2-2), which leaves France second in the ranking of group A2 of the League of Nations.
A lunar atmosphere
Everyone was warned and no one was surprised to see an almost empty Bozsik Arena with only 2,226 spectators, including around a hundred French people, for a capacity of 8,250 seats. Forced to go into exile in Hungary since the attacks of October 7, Israel plays its international matches to general indifference. And even the arrival of the French team did not prove successful. Crossed in town during the day, some onlookers, and even French tourists, discovered the presence of the Blues in Budapest for this meeting! As for the atmosphere of the match, worthy of a third division match played in pouring rain, you had to rub your eyes to imagine attending an international match as the evening environment was not conducive to it. . An ideal setting for a trap match with the Blues accustomed to hot evenings in the Champions League or in their respective championships.
The Blues did not seduce against an Israel that was too weak
For his first official match without Antoine Griezmann… since the return play-off against Ukraine in 2013, Didier Deschamps trusted Michaël Olise to replace him in the number 10 position, while also relaunching Christopher Nkunku aligned on the left of the attack and by offering Aurélien Tchouaméni the captain’s armband (the 132nd in the history of the French team). Against the Israelis, we expected the French to be incisive and sharp from the start, a way of showing that the lessons of an average return to school in September (1-3 defeat against Italy, 2-0 victory against Belgium) had been retained. This was the case quickly with the opening score of Eduardo Camavinga (0-1, 7th) after a very poorly negotiated strike by Israeli goalkeeper Omri Glazer. His 2nd goal in 22 caps.
Nkunku scores points, Olise (very) far from the mark
Without forcing too much and in a low-intensity encounter, the blue collective seemed launched. Missed. Too passive, like Koundé and Saliba, the French were nevertheless surprised by Gandelman who deceived Maignan with a beautiful header (1-1, 24th). But in this type of encounter, facing an opponent who is much weaker on paper, an individual flash can be enough to change the situation. Mission succeeded by Christopher Nkunku, scorer following a nice number where he resisted four players before scoring his first goal for the selection (1-2, 28th). Beyond his goal, the Chelsea player made an attractive copy in a context not favorable to arabesques against the ultra-defensive Israelis. For comparison, Olise, expected to replace Griezmann, missed everything, sometimes showing a surprising lack of interest in his third selection. Faced with an Israel that was nevertheless valiant in terms of the extra-football context, the Blues finished the job thanks to Mattéo Guendouzi (1-3, 87th) and Bradley Barcola (1-4, 88th) at the end of the match. Effective if not attractive, even without Kylian Mbappé. That’s enough for a Thursday evening in total anonymity in Budapest. Friday morning, everyone will have already forgotten this meeting.
