The French team returned to the Stade de France for the second and last match of this gathering counting for the fourth day of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. After a clear and flawless victory against Gibraltar in Faro in Portugal (3-0) , the Blues faced Greece. Despite a particularly trying extension season for the players’ bodies, Didier Deschamps’ men started the game with their feet firmly on the ground. If the opportunities multiplied under the leadership of captain Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann’s teammates could not find the fault. At the end of a very animated first act with many hot situations for the French but also very tense situations in the Greek surface with in particular several moments of hesitation, France and Greece were finally still tied because of the lack of success blatant which did not allow to wrap the debates against a well grouped low block. A frustrating finding as the Blues had a good first half. Opposite Greece was content to know how to defend well to avoid conceding the opener but that was not going to last very long.
Back from the locker room, the face of the game changed slightly thanks to the big early foul by Konstantinos Mavropanos in his penalty area on Antoine Griezmann. The Atlético de Madrid player was also open to the head after this huge sole from the Greek defender. On the first attempt, Kylian Mbappé saw his shot being pushed back by the gloves of Odisseas Vlachodimos but the referee, Mr Mateu Lahoz, asked to withdraw the penalty. On his second attempt, the PSG striker did not tremble and transformed the sentence with a powerful strike into a skylight (55th). The rhythm of the meeting then fell slightly. We had to wait the last twenty minutes to see a new interesting situation. Konstantinos Mavropanos was then sent off for a charge on Randal Kolo Muani in the position of last defender to annihilate a real scoring opportunity. Despite the many chances of the Blues, the score did not move until the final whistle. The Blues, who will meet again in September, are now on vacation after winning their two matches during this gathering!
