France warm up for Dublin trip with Dutch demolition
UNITED FRONT: Dayot Upamecano of France celebrates with teammates. Picture: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Industrial action by local binmen has garbage piling up in Paris for the past week but France took just 21 minutes to lay waste to the first seeds in Ireland’s European Championship qualification group.
There was no World Cup hangover for runners-up Les Bleus who crushed L’Oranje, sparked by Antoine Griezmann’s 90-second opener and a second six minutes later from Dayot Upamecano.
Not that he needed it but the captaincy enlivened Kylian Mbappé, who added a third on 21 minutes and crowned the cakewalk with a superb fourth two minutes from the finish, toying with Nathan Aké before rifling his shot low and hard home.
Ireland must do what the Dutch failed to do on Monday when the French freight train rolls into Dublin. Stephen Kenny, watching at the team hotel, won’t need the notes of his staff members in Paris, Gary Seery and Stephen Rice, to realise the extent of the task.
Matchday build-up in Paris was dominated by footage of their most famous import, Lionel Messi, seemingly denigrating the team they vanquished in the World Cup final. As Argentina celebrated their first game as champions by beating Panama on home soil, cameras picked up a song of jubilation: “A minute’s silence, France are dead”.
It wasn’t the only insult overhead on the eve of the game, as less than complimentary sentiments were uttered about Karim Benzema as the squad undertook their final training session.
Evidently, the feeling is mutual. The striker's renaissance at Real Madrid over the past two years didn’t extend to his national team, with legacy issues threatening to tarnish his legacy in his homeland. Injury was the official reason for his absence from Qatar but the outpouring of gratitude towards Hugo Lloris and Raphaël Varane following their retirements since the World Cup wasn’t mirrored when Benzema announced his exit.
That duo, along with Steve Mandanda, Blaise Matuidi and Benzema were all invited by the French federation to be feted with a proper farewell yet the only player to decline was the latest in a litany of l'enfants terrible to have donned the French shirt. He might have been chucking popcorn at his television by the end as Mbappé overtook him in the scoring records with 38 goals.
Didier Deschamps has long got used to operating without Benzema but between retirements and injuries there were four starters from his the World Cup final he had to replace at the start of his cycle. Mike Maignan succeeded Lloris while Ibrahima Konate and Kingsley Coman were both capable stand-ins for Varane and the injured Ousmane Dembélé.
Oliver Giroud was an unenforced casualty, making way in the central striker’s berth to give Randal Kolo Muani his first start.
The rising star of French football, in an attacking sense anyway, won’t want to be indelibly linked to that extra-time miss in the finale and though he didn’t score in the first-half blitz the Eintracht Frankfurt forward was a handful for the Dutch.
In the spirit of balance, that wasn’t too difficult. Ronald Koeman was already without three starters, including Frenkie de Jong, for his first game back in charge before a bout of food poisoning decimated his ranks.
That left captain Virgil van Dijk without either Mathias De Ligt or Sven Botman in the flat back-four Koeman introduced, stretching their resources to the uncapped Lutsharel Geertruida.
It would be unfair to single out the Feyenoord player, usually a full-back, for the Dutch disaster as the malaise was apparent behind and in front of him.
Ken Taylor, a beneficiary of the exodus by making his first start, began the tremors for what was to follow after 30 seconds by attempting a crossfield pass which Mbappé cut out.
A minute later and the Ajax midfielder was caught again but this time in a sliding tackle by, of all people, Griezmann. Three passes later and the ball was in the net - Kolo Muani spraying a pass left to Mbappé, whose cutback to the edge of the box was pinpoint for Griezmann to sweep a left-footer into the bottom corner.
There was no sign of the speculated rancour between the provider and scorer over the captaincy as they acclaimed the early breakthrough with a warm embrace.
That was only the start of the celebrations and again the Dutch contributed to the concession. While the Dutch are suffering a pinch point on the supply of goalkeepers, late bloomer Andries Noppert proved a sturdy stopgap during the Dutch march to the World Cup quarter-finals but his injury left Koeman with slim pickings.
Perhaps out of familiarity from his time at Barcelona, he restored Jasper Cillessen to the No 1 position and the veteran’s rustiness was exposed just six minutes later.
Griezmann applied his usual potency to a free-kick whipped into the box but Cillessen should have collected, instead spilling it from his grasp for Upamecano to prod the ball past him. Not even VAR could spare his embarrassment.
Not just attackers were on-form as left-back Théo Hernandez scampered back to dispossess Steven Berghuis on 11 minutes moments after he’d ghosted into space.
A similar tackle by Nathan Aké at the other end prevented Kingsley Coman adding a certain third from close range but they only had to wait until the 21st minute for the third.
Mbappé was the architect and executioner of the goal, mucking in like his vice-captain to regain possession and ignite an attack. Passive Dutch defending was a contributory factor too, standing off while he swapped passes and sprinted unattended through the centre to bury the ball past the stranded stopper.
It was showboating time, Griezmann attempted an audacious 35 yard lob and Mbappé went for the difficult choice on the half hour, scooping the ball over from eight yards.
If we’re to nitpick for flaws, indiscipline in the second half presented the Dutch with a couple of openings. One of the two free-kicks unleashed by Memphis Depay forced Maignan into a shaky shovel over the crossbar but the goalkeeper looked fully assured when batting away the former Manchester United striker’s stoppage-time penalty.
A faultless Friday for the French can only be ruined by a miserable Monday in Dublin.
: M Maignan; J Koundé, I Konaté, D Upamecano, T Hernandez; A Rabiot (K Thuram 87), A Tchouaméni (E Camavinga 76); K Coman (M Diaby 67), A Griezmann (Y Fofana 76), K Mbappé; R Kolo Muani (O Giroud 76).
: J Cillessen; J Timber, L Geertruida (T Malacia 86), V V Dijk, N Aké; G Wijnaldum, M De Roon (D Malen 68), K Taylor (W Weghorst 31); S Berghuis (D Klaassen 68), M Depay, X Simons (D Blind 68).
Maurizio Mariani (ITA)
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