France survived a difficult start with a bang and skied to victory over Australia. Olivier Giroud became the hero, joining Thierry Henry as France’s all-time top scorer.
In the 21st century, the curse of the reigning world champion has been more the rule than the exception in the soccer World Cup. Before Tuesday night, in 2006, only Brazil had managed to win their opening match as reigning champion.
France was not affected by the curse in Qatar, but the country raced to a clear 4-1 victory over Australia. However, the spirit of the curse had to be shaken off the jerseys of the French, as Australia started to score. Craig Goodwin sneaked to the back post to score Benjamin Pavard behind the back.
Whether it was a curse or anything else, France’s indifferent start got Urheilu’s expert and head coach of the Finnish national team Markku Kanervan amazed.
– Really bad defending, which perhaps speaks of France’s arrogance. Pavard jogs to the goal and doesn’t notice his surroundings at all. Absolutely incomprehensible, Kanerva repeated in wonder in the break studio.
– It occurred to me that they went for an afternoon walk. Kind of jogging, where aggressiveness was not really visible anywhere. I guess they thought that we would continue the initial heat for the first quarter.
The sand of sleep fell from the eyes of the French Adrien Rabiot’s equalized in the 27th minute. Australia’s encouraging start ended with a weak opening five minutes later. Rabiot snatched the ball and released Olivier Giroud’s to score.
In the second period, Australia fell off the hook and France scored two more goals. With his second goal, Giroud became France’s all-time top scorer along with Thierry Henry. Both have 51 goals on their account now.
So we went to sleep in France with a good mood, but despite the victory, at least in the Danish hotel of the next opponent, the match was watched carefully with a red pen and something was filled in the notebook.
Sports expert Jonne Kunnas tripped Kanervaa and especially saw the beginning of the match as bad. According to him, the opening match revealed signs of danger for France.
– The team was not on the same page when it came to playing with balls. It was really slow. I’m not sure if the defensive line and midfield are enough to find routes for the top players For Kylian Mbappe and For Ousmane DembeleKunnas says.
Finally, routes started to be found against Australia, but according to Kunnas, the reason was more in Australia’s badness than in France’s goodness. The two goals of the second period came from crosses, aided by Australia’s weak box defense.
– The upcoming group games and at the latest the follow-up games will be a big test for France. There is little concern about ball movement and the structure of the attacking game, Kunnas states.
The character of the match was Giroud, who was given a place in the starting line-up Karim Benzema with injury. Giroud is the head coach For Didier Deschamps versatile weapon, and he may not even need goals. Four years ago, Giroud was the main striker of the team that won the World Cup gold without a single shot on goal.
– He may not be the best in the world, but still extremely good. He can play as a target-style tip link between Mbappe and Dembele or any player who goes behind the line Antoine Griezmann as support, says Kunnas.
Against Australia, we also saw a lot of a different kind of Giroud on the field.
– In boxing, he is extremely good at moving in the area where goals are scored. Even if he is not on the ball himself, he is able to create space for others.
Despite the goal record, Giroud also had a toothache from the Australia match. The hat trick was close and not just by any means, but with a scissor kick. The acrobatic effort just narrowly missed the target.
It wasn’t a coincidence, because scissor kicks or actually acrobatic goals are a kind of trademark for Giroud. He is best known for his scorpion kick, which was awarded the best goal in the world in 2017. Giroud steered the ball into the goal from behind his back with a heel in an Arsenal shirt.
– He has it Zlatan– vibes. Body and body control must be at a high level to be able to perform such performances. Another thing is how well he perceives centering balls, reads flight paths and positions himself in good places, says Kunnas.