Various perfumes from a more or less distant past floated in the Parisian air this evening, for this
France-Ukraine determining. The nature of the poster brought us back to a happy memory, but the sad anniversary of the terrible attacks of 2015, on November 13, had plunged the country into another reality. That of a day of commemoration.
It had to be welcomed as such, with the simple desire to play a great football match and end it with a smile. Sport does not erase the horror, but it can alleviate the pain, heal the scars, even just a little, if not close them. It is with this mixture of determination and modesty that the Blues approached this important match on the green rectangle.
By opening his own memory box, Didier Deschamps had certainly not forgotten that France must never neglect a qualifying match at the Parc before America. The coach had concocted an attractive eleven on paper, with this 4-2-3-1 system carried by the creative Cherki and Olise at the helm behind captain Mbappé. An approach that didn’t pay off right away. Because these Blues were initially very pale, before letting go after half-time.
The Blues provide the essentials
As against Croatia when it was already up against the wall, the French team knew the ingredients to excite the public: movement, racing, audacity and realism to match these good intentions. All this happened after rest, in the continuity of a first soporific act without the slightest brilliance.
History will record that it took a penalty to break the deadlock. With a subtle panenka, Kylian Mbappé put the Blues on the right track (1-0, 55th). The captain of the Blues weighed much more subsequently, multiplying the heated situations in front of the Ukrainian goal, but it was in the last quarter of an hour, after the entries into play of Ekitike and Akliouche, that this match took on another dimension.
Served in the area by Kanté, Olise performed a perfect pivot-strike control sequence to double the lead (2-0, 76th). Not satisfied, Mbappé then turned his score by adding a new pawn – his 400th in his career (!) – on a point-blank shot after a confused action in the area (3-0, 83rd). The Madrilenian has finally regained his role as the Blues’ best passer to serve Ekitike, a clinical scorer after a truly remarkable entry (4-0, 88th). The matter was settled. Not everything was perfect, but the contract was fulfilled. There will be a final trip to Azerbaijan on Sunday, at the other end of the continent, to distribute playing time and build on this good dynamic. It will then be time to look ahead to America.
