After a great victory against the Netherlands (1-2), the French team welcomed Scotland, on the lawn of the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, for a friendly match always useful, at the end of the international break of month of October, in order to test new things. For this occasion, coach Didier Deschamps had made some changes to his 4-3-3, offering precious minutes to some of the elements of his group. Indeed, if the cages were always guarded by Mike Maignan, the central hinge was new with the pair composed of Ibrahima Konaté and Benjamin Pavard. In the midfield, Eduardo Camavinga was lined up alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni and Antoine Griezmann. Unlike the match against the Oranjes, captain Kylian Mbappé was accompanied by Ousmane Dembélé and Olivier Giroud in attack.
Among all the tactical choices of the former OM coach, the tenure of Benjamin Pavard as central defender was certainly what attracted all the spotlight. While he has, little by little, left Didier Deschamps’ rotation in recent months, the new Inter Milan player could gain points this Tuesday evening by playing in his usual position since his seasons in Stuttgart in Germany and Pavard had already announced the color: “It’s always an honor, a pleasure to wear this jersey, to represent this country. I do everything to be there at each meeting, afterward it’s the coach who decides. For the moment, things are going well, he takes me. But I don’t want to have anything to regret. On a daily basis, I use all the ingredients to be as efficient as possible”he declared at the start of the week in the columns of our colleagues in the regional press of The voice of the North. Back in Lille, where he was professionally trained, Benjamin Pavard didn’t miss his evening and that’s the least we can say.
Pavard puts on a show!
If everyone was expecting him to turn the corner in defense, it was in another register that the native of Maubeuge impressed. Indeed, Benjamin Pavard scored the first goal for the French team this Tuesday evening against Scotland, by placing a formidable header at the near post from a corner delivered by Antoine Griezmann (16th). A more than valuable goal since it allowed the Blues to equalize after Billy Gilmour’s opening score for the Tartan Army (11th). But even stronger, the former Bayern player scored a double, a few minutes later, by cutting solidly on Kylian Mbappé’s cross (24th), once again with a header. A simply historic performance since he became the first defender to score a double with France since Mamadou Sakho in November 2013 against Ukraine, but also the first player to score a double header with France during a same meeting since Zinédine Zidane during the 1998 World Cup final against Brazil: “I saw he was making the call at the near post, I put it hard and it was magnificent. It’s beautiful what he did this evening. Plus he finishes with the armbar, what more could you ask for?, congratulated Antoine Griezmann at the microphone of TF1 after the meeting. Same story with Eduardo Camavinga: “Today I was shocked, he’s a real surface fox. Plus it’s the first time he’s been captain. He had a good match in DC and I’m happy for him.”
For his return to Villeneuve-d’Ascq, Benjamin Pavard pulled out all the stops. The first half hour that the number 28 of the Nerazzurri performed this Tuesday was full of splendor, even historic. He won three duels out of the five attempted, while posting a total pass completion rate of 96% on more than 32 balls touched in the first thirty minutes. Pavard showed his full volume of play, linking transitions between offensive phases and defensive returns. As a symbol, Kylian Mbappé gave him the captain’s armband for the last moments of the match, when the PSG player was replaced: “It’s true that it’s a pleasure and I thank the coach. He trusted me in this position. Before I played right back, I think everyone saw that it was my best central defender position so we’ll see what happens next but I’m very happy and content. It’s true that I’m a rather skilful person, even last year at Bayern Munich I scored seven goals, that’s not too bad for a defender. There I had the opportunity so I’m happy for me and also for the team because we won”, analyzed the hero of the evening, author of this famous prodigious double. In Lille, Pavard scored points…
