[ad_1]
06:37 PM
How do you think the world champions will get on
06:35 PM
Pictures: Players warming up
06:25 PM
If you were wondering about France’s formation
06:24 PM
Can Giroud break record?
Despite starting all of France’s matches in 2018 and not having a shot on target, Olivier Giroud could become France’s all-time top scorer tonight.
The ex-Arsenal and Chelsea man has 49 goals for his country, two less than Thierry Henry.
It may be a tough ask for him to score a hat-trick tonight, but with Karim Benzema ruled out of the tournament, he could break the record over the next few weeks.
06:20 PM
British-based players dominate Australia line-up
Six British-based players start for Australia. Hearts duo Nathaniel Atkinson and Kye Rowles and Dundee United’s Aziz Behich are in defence alongside Scottish born Stoke centre-half Harry Souttar.
Celtic’s Aaron Mooy and Middlesbrough’s Riley McGree are in midfield.
With ex-Brighton goalie Mat Ryan and former Kilmarnock and Ross County midfielder Jackson Irvine also starting, only three of the XI haven’t played in the UK.
Sunderland defender Bailey Wright, Hearts’ Cameron Devlin and St Mirren’s Keanu Baccus are all on the bench.
06:11 PM
Varane on bench, Giroud starts
Manchester United centre-back Rafael Varane is on the bench for France, despite being expected to start alongside Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate. Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano takes his place.
Ex-Arsenal and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud starts up front, after Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema was ruled out of the tournament through injury.
The France XI includes six players who played in the 2018 final win, including goalscorers Antoine Greizmann and Kylian Mbappe.
06:04 PM
The teams are out
France: Hugo Lloris, Benjamin Pavard, Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Hernandez, Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud
Australia: Mat Ryan, Nathaniel Atkinson, Harry Souttar, Kye Rowles, Aziz Behich, Aaron Mooy, Jackson Irvine, Riley McGree, Craig Goodwin, Mathew Leckie, Mitchell Duke
06:00 PM
France begin World Cup defense
It took about four questions to arrive but Didier Deschamps, manager of the World Cup holders France, had evidently seen it coming. “So what about the curse of the champions Didier… can France break it?”
The fact that no team have retained the title since Pele’s Brazil in 1962 tells you everything about the difficulty of winning even one World Cup, but the most striking statistic is even more recent.
Four of the past five champions – footballing nations of the stature of France, Italy, Spain and Germany – have all crashed out at the group phase of their subsequent defence and even the biggest optimist could hardly miss the glaring warning signs for France.
Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante did not even make it to Qatar following injuries. Christopher Nkunku, the Bundesliga’s top scorer, was ruled out during pre-tournament training after a tackle with team-mate Eduardo Camavinga. And then, in the biggest blow of all, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema, followed on Saturday night before a ball had even been kicked after tearing a quadriceps muscle during training.
The sight of Deschamps, though, is perhaps the best counter to those expecting the French to unravel. One of only three men in history to win the World Cup as player and manager, Deschamps said that these “statistics… probability” were not grounded in future reality and told journalists to “do with them what you what” but that his team “will be ready” for the first game. “Everything that has come before is on the sideline – each team undergoes their own journey,” he said.
That journey begins on Tuesday night in Al-Wakrah against Australia when Deschamps is expected to unleash four of his strikers – Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann – in the same starting team. This will mean asking Griezmann to drop into a three-man midfield alongside seasoned Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot and the raw but precociously talented Real Madrid starlet Aurelien Tchouameni.
Sixteen of the 25-man France squad are under the age of 27, but there are still 10 survivors from the squad who won the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Giroud is within two goals of Thierry Henry’s all-time goalscoring record and, albeit with a big smile, Deschamps said that this most Marmite of players was now “loved” by the French public.
“There were a lot of people who liked to criticise Olivier – that is no longer the case,” Deschamps said. “His selection was non-negotiable. He is a veteran of our squad, the skills that he has makes him important even when he is not scoring goals.”
One major boost has been the availability of Manchester United defender Raphael Varane, who is on the bench against Australia, with Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano starting in central defence.
[ad_2]
Source link
