Les Bleuets won without much difficulty against Denmark (4-1) in a friendly match on Thursday in Nancy, allowing Thierry Henry to make a successful debut on the Espoirs bench, just over two weeks after his appointment as coach.
Led by the youngest of the group Warren Zaire-Emery, appointed captain at just 17 years old, they nevertheless suffered during the first minutes of the match, the Danes having failed to open the scoring on numerous occasions – goal disallowed (7th), then double parade of the French goalkeeper Guillaume Restes on a Danish corner (8th).
Lepenant, Cherki and Wahi scorers
But Henry’s men quickly recovered, moving forward quickly to recover the ball and creating plenty of chances.
And it paid off. In the 23rd, Zaire-Emery recovers the ball on the right side and leads the French offensive leading to a curling shot from the right of Johan Lepenant, outside the box, which lands in the right corner.
A quarter of an hour later (38th), it was another Lyonnais, Rayan Cherki, who managed to deceive the Danish goalkeeper by making a one-two near the surface with Kalimuendo, then striking with his right foot on the ground level.
Entering at the start of the second period to replace Barcola, it was Elye Wahi who scored the third goal of the game (75th), with a superb half-volley under the bar of Jungdal, before offering himself a double in very end of the game (90th) on a French counter-attack.
In the meantime, the Danes had managed to reduce the gap with a shot from the left of Christian Rasmussen (84th).
A test match
For his first match as coach of the Bleuets, Thierry Henry, whose name the public chanted several times, tried different combinations, exploiting the nine changes that were authorized to give a chance to as many players as possible.
The 46-year-old tactician spent almost the entire match standing in his technical area, observing the behavior of his players, giving them advice on the placement they should adopt and applauding their good deeds.
The legend of French football, world champion (1998) and Europe (2000) with the Blues, knew that his first official match in his new role would be closely scrutinized.
His conversion to the position of coach was until then very mixed, the Monegasque adventure having turned into a fiasco in 2018, and his other coaching experiences, in Montreal then in the staff of the Belgian selection, having not been either. much more successful.
Chosen to succeed Sylvain Ripoll, mainly thanks to his profile as a former player with a prestigious track record and his significant popular and media aura, Henry had indicated that he had “questioned” himself after his debut deemed to be unsuccessful on the benches.
In front of around 15,000 spectators, his men seem to have met his expectations during this first meeting.
The coach explained that he considered this friendly match as a test match “to find a coherent team”, before the start of the qualifying campaign for Euro-2025, which begins Monday (6 p.m.) in Slovenia for the Bleuets. .
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