Decidedly, Croatia will hate facing the France team. Two years after the painful World Cup final lost 4 goals to 2, and one month after a defeat in Saint-Denis in the League of Nations – on the same score – the Croats have again suffered from the realism of the Blues (2-1 ), Wednesday October 14 in Zagreb, on the fourth day of the League of Nations.
“We almost got them! “, cursed Croatian coach Zlatko Danic after the meeting. “We play against a team which is worth a billion euros, and which punishes every mistake”, he added, a bit annoyed. France effectively tamed Luka Modric and his 6,300 Croatian supporters, on a late goal from Kylian Mbappé, a success that keeps Didier Deschamps’ men in the race for first place with Portugal.
The French coach regretted a lack of “sparks” on Sunday against the Portuguese (0-0), he will perhaps find comfort in the success of his players on the eve of blowing out his 52 candles. The birthday gift was delivered to him a day in advance by his two world champions Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann, already scorers against the same Croats in the final of the 2018 World Cup.
However, the victory of the Blues was drawn in pain in the Maksimir stadium, the usual playground of Dinamo Zagreb whose initial capacity (35,000 seats) has been reduced since an earthquake in March.
“We must not believe that because we are world champion, we win matches by snapping our fingers”, analyzed Deschamps on TF1, highlighting ” state of mind “ and ” the character “ of its players.
33e goal for Griezmann
At kick-off, the French coach had chosen to launch Anthony Martial, rather than Olivier Giroud, associating Manchester United center-forward with Griezmann, of which it was the 40e consecutive selection, and Mbappé, engaged in two days with Paris-SG in the league.
With N’Golo Kanté preserved in the stand, and Paul Pogba on the bench, the middle had an unusual pace around Rennes’ Steven Nzonzi, associated with Adrien Rabiot and Corentin Tolisso. In defense, Ferland Mendy was expatriated on the right to leave the left side to Lucas Digne, around the classic hinge by Raphaël Varane and Clément Lenglet.
If Mbappé lit the first wicks, the light came from an overflow of the left-hander Mendy who picked up speed his vis-à-vis to center with the right foot. His attempt, rejected by the defense, was exploited perfectly by Griezmann whose heavy strike shook the crossbar before finding the nets (8e).
In difficulty at Barça, not at his level against Portugal, “Grizou” celebrated its new found offensive efficiency and its 33e goal in selection of a small dance.
“Goals, I have the most beautiful. I put everything in it, it feels good. I feel good, the coach knows where to put me, I take advantage of this situation, this place, the confidence of the coach and the teammates ”, rejoiced the number 7 of the Blues.
Even if he crosses “A period a little more complicated on the offensive plan, (…) we know that he has this ability to respond to this France team, let’s be patient”, had urged Lloris the day before, as a good captain and visionary.
“A winning mentality”
The prediction was verified, but that did not prevent the Blues from suffering under the blows of the Croats, determined to finally bite the dust on their pet peeve.
The selection at the red and white checkered pattern did not give up until the equalization of Nikola Vlasic (65e) and she even believed to repeat the performance at the very end of the match, but Lloris won on strikes (86e, 90e) before the last two air trips in additional time.
In the meantime, fortunately for the Blues, Mbappé had sprung (79e) on a superb center volley from Lucas Digne, after a long serve from Pogba, to score the winning goal.
“Once again, we made the efforts and at 1-1, it is played out in details, it could have tipped in their favor, analyzed at the end of the match Hugo Lloris. But we made sure, with a very nice goal, to take the advantage and keep it. I believe there is a winning mentality in the France team. We have been trying to cultivate it for a few years, like our trainer. “
After this happy result, the Blues will be able to come and play what looks like an enticing group final on November 14 in Lisbon against Portugal, who won 3-0 over Sweden on Wednesday.
