The essential
- France experienced a nightmarish entry into the Olympic competition against Mexico (4-1).
- Totally overwhelmed in impact, without ideas with the ball, Sylvain Ripoll’s men took to the water after the break. Despite a goal on a penalty, the performance of captain Gignac, like that of other executives (Thauvin, Tousart, Savanier), was not up to par.
- Placed in group A, France will meet South Africa on Sunday then Japan next Wednesday. We will have to bring new blood and complicity to this inexperienced team.
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>> Relive this game minute by minute
END OF THE MATCH. France has largely missed its entry into the tournament. She succeeded in giving the change 45 minutes before completely unscrewing the recovery. The executives were not at the level, like Florian Thauvin, Lucas Tousart, Téji Savanier and André-Pierre Gignac. The captain’s penalty goal never allowed to revive an amorphous and undisciplined team defensively. Sylvain Ripoll has work to do between now and the next match on Sunday against South Africa.
90 ′. And now 4-1 … France is taking water from all sides. Melvin Bard, barely in play, misses completely and offers a goal ball to Aguirre. Bernardoni is surprised by the heavy strike from the Mexican. It’s time for the game to end.
88′. There is not much good news today. Note however the encouraging entries of Kolo Muani and Beka-Beka, much more in the legs and incisive ball in the foot.
81 ′. 3-1 for Mexico !!! This time it’s done. Antuna didn’t miss a second time. His strike low to the ground deceives Bernardoni with the help of the post. What apathy from the French defense and Anthony Caci, who leave too much space for the Mexican attackers.
79′. Thauvin replaced by Mbuku. No doubt in lack of juice, it will have been transparent throughout the meeting.
78 ′. Mexico on the verge of 3-1. Mexicans love this kind of quick streak. In numerical superiority, they are easily found with vertical passes. Antuna narrowly misses the target with his 16-meter cross strike.
74 ′. France is struggling to create danger. The penalty didn’t really change the scenario of this match. Admittedly, Mexico retreats and France touches the ball a little higher. But no action is to be reported since the score reduction.
69 ′. 2-1. GIGNAC BOOSTS THE BLUES. The French striker deceives Ochoa who started from the right side but the ball goes under his arm. There are about twenty minutes left to equalize, which would be miraculous in view of the French performance.
67 ′. PENALTY FOR FRANCE. Launched by Le Fée, Kolo Muani is dried by defender Montes in the box. The referee logically whistles a penalty.
64 ′. Gignac grew impatient. The attacker is not at all fed in the area, like this difficult center attempted at the end of the race by Enzo Le Fée and who ends up in Ochoa’s gloves.
62 ′. Thauvin’s awakening! Found by Michelin at the entrance to the area, Florian Thauvin tries to cross his volley ball. It goes slightly off.
60 ‘. French side changes. Beka Beka and Kolo Muani enter instead of Tousart, passed by, and Nordin.
55 ′. And that’s 2-0! Mexico made the break thanks to Cordova who has all the time in the world to cheat Bernardoni with a volley. Modipo Sagnan comes back trotting on his opposite. Incredible air hole of the Blues, who, in addition to lacking consistency with the ball, are now unable to hang on in combat. This Mexican superiority is particularly visible on the recovery of the second balls.
49 ′. Bernardoni avoids the 2-0 !!! What a start of a second catastrophic period. The French defense is still breaking through. Bernardoni manages to stop the Mexican strike.
47 ′. PURPOSE OF MEXICO. Vega opens the scoring with superb action from soloist Diego Lainez. The Betis Sevilla striker completely ate Anthony Caci and then dropped the ball on Vega’s head.
46 ′. Here we go again. No change to be noted on either side.
HALF TIME. First mixed act for the France team, which is doing well with this 0-0. In a crying lack of landmarks at the beginning, she was able to re-mobilize herself like Téji Savanier in a role of metronome. But the Mexicans still lead in points, very dangerous against. Gignac and especially Thauvin will have to make more differences to unlock this disjointed meeting.
41 ′. Mexico is recovering a bit before the break. A little off since the 25th minute, the Verde is moving forward. Very mobile, she sits easily and plays simple, like the right-sided center-shot that Bernardoni sees spinning into the box.
38 ′. Alert on Bernardoni’s cage. New against well negotiated by Mexico. In four passes, Cordova is left with a great opportunity to strike. Embarrassed by Kalulu, his shot grazed Bernardoni’s right post.
30′. Big opportunity for Nordin! Following an off-center cross from Gignac, Nordin recovered in the area, turned around and struck without momentum. Ochoa pushes back this shot which was on target and went well under the bar. That’s it, France is in its game.
28 ′. Ochoa vigilant against Gignac! This time, Gignac was not offside. Very well served by Savanier in the box, the French captain tries to lob his vis-à-vis the head, but his cross attempt lacks power.
25 ′. There is the best French side. The tricolor midfielder touches the balls lower and manages to get out of the Mexican pressing.
19 ′. Things are getting hot !! Completely disorganized at the loss of the ball, the Blues are doing well. This time, it was Betis Seville Lainez who dribbled several players in the axis before missing his pass in the box.
17 ′. HUGE RESCUE FROM SAGNAN. Modipo Sagnan clears the ball on his line. On a new error of recovery, the Mexicans project themselves quickly and find Vega on the right. He managed to get the upper hand over bernardoni but the Real Sociedad defender kept watch on the goal line.
16 ′. Yellow for Michelin. The right side of Racing Club de Lens receives a logical yellow card after a big shock with Aguirre.
12 ′. Be careful not to go back too far. The Mexicans are finding more and more gaps between the midfield and the opposing defense. For the moment, they are too imprecise to be dangerous but opposite, the French recovery is not always reassuring like Bernardoni and Michelin.
9 ′. Savanier tries from afar. The Montpellier driver Téji Savanier infiltrates the axis and takes his chance from 25 meters. It’s too crushed and it ends in six meters. This match struggles to come alive.
6 ′. Thauvin-Gignac, first sequence. The right winger finds the French striker launched into the box with his left foot. He fails to control the ball with his header but the referee had whistled offside.
4 ′. Very choppy start to the match. Fouls and stoppages have increased since the start of the game.
10:00 a.m. START OF THE MATCH. Let’s go for this first match of Pool A against Mexico, crowned in this competition in 2012 in London.
9:55 am. Make way for hymns. In a completely empty Tokyo Stadium, the two teams entered the pitch. France will play in white, Mexico in green.
9:50 a.m. Why this team still looks great. There is no Mbappé, long hoped for, there are not most of the Bleuets having scratched this Olympic qualification, and blocked by their clubs, but all the same, this team of France does not lack talent.
From Milan defender Pierre Kalulu to sentry Lucas Tousart, to Stéphanois winger Arnaud Nordin, Sylvain Ripoll has beautiful elements (the list HERE). The question is to know to what extent he was able to create a collective and automatisms in barely a month of preparation. The Blues won their only friendly match, a snatch victory (2-1) against South Korea.
9.45 a.m. Gignac knows the Mexican goalkeeper well. In 2013, APG scored a magnificent goal under the colors of OM against Ajaccio. In the cages, was then Guillermo Ochoa, whom he will find again this morning (see the goal HERE). Florian Thauvin, the other major player of the French Olympic team now expatriated in Mexico, also scored that night.
9.40 a.m. D-1 before the opening ceremony, and more hiccups … The artistic director of the ceremony was sacked on Wednesday after an old Holocaust joke. A few days after the resignation of the Japanese musician Keigo Oyamada, composer of the opening ceremony, pinned for harassing the disabled in his youth, it is the turn of the artistic director Kentaro Kobayashi to bear the brunt of the cleaning undertaken by the Committee. organizer of the Tokyo Olympics.
9:30 am. THE COMPOS.
France: Bernardoni – Michelin, Kalulu, Sagnan, Caci – Le Fée, Savanier, Tousart – Thauvin, Gignac (c), Nordin.
Mexico: Ochoa (c) – Montes, Sanchez, Vasquez, Romo – Aguirre, Cordova, Lainez, Rodriguez, Martin – Vega.
9:20 a.m. Welcome to all. Today we are launching our Olympic Live Series. Yes, the festivities won’t officially start until noon tomorrow in Tokyo. But in the meantime, the softball and football competitions have already started.
This morning we will closely follow the entry into the running of the French men’s football team, made of odds and ends but determined to shine with its offensive tandem Gignac-Thauvin. Kick-off 10 a.m. (5 p.m. in Tokyo).
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