France, reigning world champions, began the defense of their crown with a 4-1 win over Australia on Tuesday in Doha, in a match in which Olivier Giroud equaled Thierry Henry’s record as the top scorer in the history of the ‘Blues’ (51).
Despite Australia taking the lead with a goal from Craig Goodwin (9), the ‘Bleus’, who lost Lucas Hernandez due to injury, came back with goals from Adrien Rabiot (27), Kylian Mbappé (68) and a brace from Giroud ( 32 and 71). They add three points that allow them to lead World Cup group D after the goalless draw between Denmark and Tunisia, also this Tuesday.
Of the poker of great stars present in Qatar (Messi, Neymar, Cristiano and Mbappé), the Frenchman was the second to act and he did so precisely a few hours after his Argentine teammate at Paris SG suffered the first big surprise of the tournament. tournament: the 2-1 defeat of the Albiceleste against Saudi Arabia.
And the ‘Bleus’ match began with another bombshell: Harry Souttar’s opening on the right side, Mathew Leckie got rid of Lucas Hernandez’s mark with great control and his cross to the far post finished it off into the Goodwin net (9). .
Lucas’s serious injury?
In that play, in addition, the French winger injured his right knee and had to be replaced by his brother Theo Hernandez. The Bayern Munich player left the field on a stretcher and his injury could be very serious.
Affected by these two setbacks, the ‘Bleus’ not only did not have a hard time reacting but they were close to conceding a second goal, in a hard long-distance shot by Mith Duke (21).
But if there is one thing left over from this French team, despite Karim Benzema’s last-minute loss, it is a punch, as if it were a Mike Tyson with heeled boots, capable of sending any rival in front of him to the canvas .
Thus he turned the scoreboard in just five minutes. They tied with a Rabiot header to the center from the left by Theo Hernandez in a play that had started with a corner taken from the other side by Griezmann (27).
And shortly after the ‘Bleus’ completed the comeback, in a play that began with a wall between Mbappé and Rabiot and the Juventus midfielder, absent in Russia-2018 due to a decision by Deschamps, gave up Giroud so that, from the heart from the area, achieved an empty goal 2-1 (32).
It was the 50th goal for the veteran French striker (36 years old), who was only one away from Thierry Henry’s absolute record. And time was ahead to try.
Again Giroud (37) and Ousmane Dembelé (40) could have almost sealed the game before the break.
Even Mbappé, active but very discreet, missed a point-blank shot (45).
The Australians, who seemed knocked out after the two French goals, were close to going to the locker room with the tie, but Jackson Irvine’s header hit the post (45+2).
Discreet Mbappé, although a scorer
The second half began with a spectacular volley shot from Giroud’s back that went wide (50) and 10 minutes later, the current AC Milan forward kicked back a wall to Mbappé that only the action of a defender prevented him from being the third.
Neither did Griezmann, whose shot from the edge was taken by a defender under the sticks (66), but the sentence had to come due to the obvious difference in quality between the two teams.
It was Mbappé, who up to that moment almost nothing he had tried had worked out for him, who scored the third goal with a header from Dembele’s cross (68) and shortly after Giroud, criticized so many times, sentenced with a goal who enters the annals of French football history (71).
The hug that Didier Deschamps gave him when he replaced him in 89 seemed to be that of all French football, for everything Giroud has given him.