The Finnish regime conquers France

EFE

French soccer team They lost 2-0 to Finland on Wednesday in a friendly match in which locals missed many of their personalities, even though those who took to the field did not cease to have more status than their rivals.

France was steady, but without imagination. Without Mbappe Griezmann is not missing a goal, something the midfield muscle cannot compensate for, while the defense loses many integers without Varane, Kimbembe and Hernandez.

In a game designed more for testing and with multiple injured or questionable players, French coach Didier Deschamps saved a large portion of his stars. (As Mbappe Lameness) Before the decisive match with Portugal next Saturday at the top of Group C in the Nations League.

This gave Marcus Thuram, the winger to Borussia Monchengladbach and son of 1998 world champion Lilliam Thuram, the start on his first call-up with Bleus.

So did Finnish coach Marco Canerva, who has retained most of the players in the major European leagues to give more experience to those struggling in his humble domestic league.

France started with its usual high pressure, bolstered by the physical strength of the midfielders, which closed Finland with several problems with the ball getting out of the French muscle wall.

Thuram, a few weeks after scoring twice against Real Madrid in the Champions League, scored the danger he carries in his shoes by demonstrating a rich combination of quick training, dribbling, good positions, technical details and shots, despite his lack of success. To determine.

It was his first big chance, with a header from a corner that left the crossbar Joronen shaking after a quarter of an hour. Two minutes later, he was alone in front of the opponent’s goal, but his shot was loud.

The first half hour was practically the Gallic monologue before the regular Finnish thunderbolt until Sissoko lost a ball in the center of the field allowing for a dangerous counter-attack that Marcus Forss, after winning the race against Lenglet and being alone before Mandanda, crowned a tough auction.

Unable to recover from the blow, the second arrived. Another French loss in midfield, Uni Valacari scored with a superb shot from outside the area into the team against the negativity of the host’s defense.

The double hook dislodged the French jaw and encouraged visitors to extend the lines, with fine triangles that allowed them to wander around the Gallic region frequently.

The second half began as the first half ended: France is urgent but imprecise, symbolized by the gray Pogba and the lost Giroud, against a rapidly expanding Finland.

Deschamps searched for solutions off the bench, suddenly merging Griezmann, Martial and Kante. Then Robin Aguilar made his debut, the Monaco full-back with a Spanish father.

The French changes had no effect. Everyone’s exhaustion left one last half hour in which not even the exhausted Thuram spilled over into the first act. Martial and Griezmann had clear chances, but they sent them in with a brush of sticks.

Even if it was a friendly, France finished an impressive series of seventeen games in a row without defeat and showed Finland how to contain French physical strength.