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France squeeze past Austria in hectic finale

France squeeze past Austria in hectic finale

June 17 – In a test of character, France laboured past a stubborn Austria 1-0 to open their account at Euro 2024 with three points, but star player Kylian Mbappé left the play with blood streaming from his face. 

Ralf Rangnick and Austria were always facing an uphill battle against France but demonstrated great grit and discipline to stretch French resilience to the limit. Following in the footsteps of other powerhouses, Les Bleus ultimately notched up a victory and confirmed their credentials as title contenders.

Under Didier Deschamps, France had won all of their opening matches at major finals – against Honduras in 2014, Romania in 2016, Australia in both 2018 and 2022, and Germany in 2021 – and it was no different on Monday.

In the 8th minute, Mbappé, France’s lodestar, got in behind the Austrian defence, cutting in from the left wing, but failed to deceive Austrian goalkeeper Patrick Pentz from an acute angle.

Christoph Baumgartner of Austria  under pressure from N’Golo Kante 

On the eve of the game, the number ten had said the elections in France were more important than Les Bleus’ Euro 2024 opener, calling on the youth to vote against the far right. All eyes then were on Mbappé and his team.

If Mbappé had raced away early on, Les Bleus were not showing the same sense of urgency. In a slow start, the French offered enough pace and threat, but Austria, lining up in a 4-4-2 with Christoph Baumgartner in support of Michael Gregoritsch, were battle-hardened.

They kept their discipline and marked tightly. The Austrians had no intentions of simply rolling over for France’s ensemble of glamorous stars.

Antoine Griezmann challenged by Nicolas Seiwald 

Rangnick’s XI had an edge and, as the game became more cagey, even a bit bite. Baumgartner found himself face to face with Frence keeper Mike Maignan, who got a boot to the Austrian’s toe-poke. It was an unforgivable miss because France, then, almost predictably got their goal in the…


Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/06/17/france-squeeze-past-austria-hectic-finale/

Author : Paul Nicholson

Publish date : 2024-06-17 21:22:18

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