After the debacle collected at Split Thursday evening (2-0), the French Team was to release the big game against Croatia this Sunday, on the lawn of the Stade de France, in the quarter-final return of the League of Nations. At the key, a qualification for the rest of the competition, but above all an official ticket for the 2026 World Cup which will take place in the summer of 2026 in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Following the defeat against the Vatrini on the outward journey, the Blues had the mission of redeeming themselves. And to do this, Didier Deschamps made several changes in his eleven, by putting his 4-3-3 4-3 for a resolutely offensive 4-2-3-3-1 in the cupboard with in particular the returns of Bradley Barcola but especially Michael Olise in the starting composition.
For its 6th selection, the French nugget of Bayern, which celebrated its fourth tenure at the same time, had to send a message after starting the first leg to Split on the replacement bench: “Players can have different personalities. It is up to me to adapt, knowing them well humanly. This is not done by snapping your fingers. Michael has a dizzying progression. With his club too. He completely changes galaxy. He is called regularly because I see him doing very good things with his club“Said the French coach, aware of the potential of the former Crystal Palace player. Didier Deschamps is patient with the native of London. And the main one returned to him very well this Sunday at the Stade de France.
An offensive score!
Already very stirring in the first period with several attempts at inspired dribbles and rapid incursions, Michael Olise sounded the load in the 52nd minute of play. While the referee of the meeting, Mr. Michael Oliver, let the Blues play quickly after the offside of Budimir, Ousmande Dembélé quickly served Kylian Mbappé in the axis that pushed Luka Modric, Just in front of the Croatian penalty area. Michael Olise took care of this good free kick and housed a magnificent skylight strike for the opening of the scoring. The Stade de France exploded and the Bayern player was entitled to his standing ovation. And as if that was not enough, the striker Michael Olise then turned into a passer. While the pressure was starting to go up over the minutes that passed on the giant screens of the Santaine-based enclosure, the 23-year-old winger was talked about on the left side, to eliminate the Croatian defenders, before serving on a plateau, Ousmane Dembélé who concluded without trembling in the 80th minute: “It was radiant, I know its quality. He has the potential, I insisted. He did good things, we saw binding with the other players. It's great, he's a good player, he progresses well in Bayern Munich“Said Deschamps after the meeting. Gratified by a note of 8.5 by the editorial staff of foot transfer window, he was elected man of the match with in particular 84% of successful passes in 102 affected balls. He also won seven of his twelve duels.
“”I'm happy because we won. It was a difficult match. We did everything to win. I am happy with my first goal with the team. I dreamed of it. I am happy», Humoutly summarizes olise at the microphone of TF1. For a long time, Michael Olise encountered some difficulties to really win in the France team, despite his exceptional performances in Bayern Munich because of several parameters including a slight linguistic barrier since he masters English better than French, which complicated his communication with Didier Deschamps and certain teammates, and in general his adaptation in the group. Especially since the French number 11 also had to meet the tactical requirements of a coach who favors players accustomed to his system. Unlike other players, he had little international experience, which placed him back in the wings hierarchy. Without forgetting the high competition which has not facilitated the situation, since the Blues are full of offensive talents like Ousmane Dembélé, Kingsley Coman, Bradley Barcola and, recently, Désiré Doué. But tonight, Michael Olise agreed and clearly scored precious points.
