Deprived of its captain Kylian Mbappé and the newly retired international Antoine Griezmann, the French team did not force its talent to easily dominate Israel (4-1) in the League of Nations, offering itself a little comfort in a very complicated period, Thursday in Budapest.
KEYSTONE
In the tiny Bozsik Arena in the Hungarian capital, which hosts the home matches of the Israeli selection since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023 and the IDF counter-offensive in Gaza, and in pouring rain, the Blues released a rather mixed copy, hardly likely to raise questions about their level, only making the difference at the very end of the meeting.
In front of a very meager audience (2,226 spectators), Didier Deschamps’ troops, as in recent months, sinned in offensive animation and creativity, struggling to really win the game against the 79th FIFA nation, which conceded a 3rd defeat in as many outings in this event.
The essential was certainly ensured thanks to an innocuous strike from Eduardo Camavinga, helped by a gross hand mistake from the unfortunate Israeli goalkeeper Omri Glazer (7th), a great personal exploit from the returning Christopher Nkunku (28th) and two goals in the final minutes of Matteo Guendouzi (87th) and Bradley Barcola (89th).
But this second success in a row after that brought back from Lyon in September against Belgium (2-0) will add nothing to the glory of the Blues. Because, in addition to a too predictable game, the vice-world champions gave themselves a little scare by conceding the equalizer in the 24th minute on a header from Omri Gandelman, strangely forgotten by William Saliba.
Lack of character and imagination
Enough to tarnish the performance of the Tricolores, who nevertheless really needed to boost their morale after the upheavals of the last few days, marked by Griezmann’s farewell and the Mbappé controversy, not called up to treat an injury to the left thigh but established by Real Madrid, Saturday in La Liga.
Relieved of any technical leader, France logically lacked character and imagination. Criticisms that stick to this team’s coattails since the disappointing Euro-2024 during which it only scored one goal in the game.
Without Mbappé and with the departure of “Grizou”, Deschamps lacks experienced executives. If Israel did not really have the means to take advantage of it, the trip to Belgium on Monday risks being on a completely different level.
The main satisfaction on the French side came from Nkunku, too often injured and who returned to the selection for the first time since June 2023. In addition to his goal, the first in 11 selections, the Chelsea player, sometimes on the left, sometimes in the axis as in the second half, was rather active while Ousmane Dembélé experienced his usual waste despite several attempts (12th, 32nd, 44th, 52nd, 63rd).
This victory somewhat eases the pressure weighing on the shoulders of Deschamps, who has not yet succeeded in completely relaunching his team and chasing away the ghosts of the Euro. He has no interest in seeing his players collapse in Brussels in four days, otherwise he will continue to live in a zone of turbulence.
