Buts: Cambiaso (35e) for the Nazionale // Rabiot (2e & 65e) & Vicario (33eCSC) for the Blues
San Siro has known Andrea Pirlo, Siniša Mihajlović, David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Andriy Shevchenko and more recently Hakan Çalhanoğlu. But this Sunday, it was Lucas Digne's set pieces that ruled the roost. Facing the Nationalin the temple that is Giuseppe-Meazza, the Blues – in white this evening – came to impose their conditions (1-3) thanks to a double from Adrien Rabiot, and above all three kicks from the Aston Villa side. A first to roll, after 120 seconds of play, a corner kick – outgoing – towards the noggin of the Duke, winner of his duel with Alessandro Buongiorno (0-1, 2e). A second to brush a superb free kick ending at the bottom after a ricochet off the bar and another on the skull of Guglielmo Vicario, replacing the ill Gianluigi Donnarumma (0-2, 32e). And a third to place a mini-corner, from the left side, on the same Rabiot, decidedly invincible in the air (1-3, 65e).
Three phases stopped, therefore, symbol of a game where the visitors will have purred a lot in a situation of possession and sloppy in transition, with a trio Guendouzi-Koné-Rabiot in the midfield and another Kolo Muani-Nkunku-Thuram in front. Didier Deschamps' men will also have suffered (they hit less, and had the ball less), but ultimately conceded little if we put aside chaotic added time (Mike Maignan had to intervene in front of Moise Kean, in the last breaths), only getting holed just after the break by Andrea Cambiaso, on a nice climb from his counterpart on the left Federico Dimarco who had stolen the leather from the feet of Jules Koundé (1-2, 35e). Embarrassed by the new 3-5-2 – which had just been introduced by Italy during a first leg match with the same score, but in the other direction – and the opposing intensity, but sovereign and pleasant to see at the time to exult at the final whistle, the French team will have delivered a paradoxical performance, like a tough game that is not always easy to watch.
At least, after the sad reception of Israel (0-0) three days earlier, certain things were corrected, starting with efficiency. If 2024 will remain a vintage to forget, the teammates of Ibou Konaté – who started with the tricolor armband for the first time – ended the year with five matches without defeat, including four successes, and the first place in the group clinched, since it was the League of Nations that was in question this Sunday: by grilling its evening host at the photo-finish (for a small goal), France – which had already qualified since Thursday – secured a quarter-final back home in March and avoided a big one.
Relive Italy-France (1-3)
