Our consultant Maryline Cabane was present and shared her vision and analysis of the match with us.
Last night, France met its greatest rival, England,
which was eliminated in the round of 16 at the South African World Cup,
and had a record of only one defeat in the last ten matches.
For this friendly encounter, Wembley Stadium was packed
with its 90,000 English supporters against a very small handful of
French fans. However, it was far from an English walkover!
In fact, France emerged victorious with a score of 2-1.
Arsène Wenger had said that friendlies are meant for taking risks, and he was heeded. Fielding a team with five offensive players, Laurent Blanc’s Bleus could not afford any mistakes.
Impressive in the first half, they displayed great
technical abilities and made this young, inexperienced Three Lions squad,
deprived of their core players, doubt themselves.
This total control was rewarded by the Madrilenian striker Karim Benzema’s goal by the end of the first quarter of an hour. Mathieu Valbuena doubled the lead and Peter Crouch reduced the score on his first touch, in a more balanced and disrupted second half due to substitutions.
In the end, the former Nice player, Hugo Lloris, captain for the occasion, can
be proud of his team because despite their poor record against
the British, the Bleus’ unbeaten streak against their cross-Channel rivals since 1997 continues…
