Olivier Giroud scored the winner as France marked their first game on home soil since lifting the World Cup by beating the Netherlands 2-1 in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday evening.
UEFA Nations League
League A, Group 1
Stade de France, Paris
France 2 – 1 Netherlands 
THE MATCH
This occasion, on a balmy evening at a packed Stade de France, was principally about celebrating France’s World Cup triumph as they played their first home game since beating Croatia in Moscow exactly eight weeks earlier.
Celebrations took place on the pitch after the final whistle, but before that Les Bleus wanted to get the better of the Dutch to strengthen their position in their Nations League group.
After a 0-0 draw in Germany on Thursday, coach Didier Deschamps opted for the same starting line-up, with Alphonse Aréola again standing in for the injured Hugo Lloris in goal. Otherwise, appropriately, it was the team that lined up in the World Cup final.
Mbappé gets opener
On a feverish night, France started superbly and Kylian Mbappé almost opened the scoring inside 50 seconds. Jasper Cillessen saved well from the Paris Saint-Germain star, but Mbappé did get the breakthrough soon after as he turned in Blaise Matuidi’s driven ball across the face of goal (14′).
Deschamps’ men were thoroughly in control but they could not add to their lead, and Ronald Koeman’s Dutch side eventually came back into the game midway through the second half. Georginio Wijnaldum dragged a shot wide of the far post after finding himself in behind the France defence in the 66th minute, before the equaliser arrived a minute later when Olympique Lyonnais full-back Kenny Tete crossed from the right for Ryan Babel to score.
Parity was restored, but it only lasted eight minutes before substitute Benjamin Mendy crossed from the left and Olivier Giroud – who did not find the net in Russia – swept home to make it 2-1 (75′).
The celebrations could then begin in earnest, with France parading the World Cup around the national stadium after moving on to four points from two games in Group 1 of Nations League A.
THE PLAYER: Olivier Giroud
After struggling through the whole of France’s World Cup campaign without scoring, Giroud must have been delighted to get back among the goals here, his winner coming after a 10-match barren streak with Les Bleus. His last international goal had come against the Republic of Ireland at the Stade de France at the end of May.
THE STAT: 32
Giroud’s goal was his 32nd in a France shirt, moving him one clear of a certain Zinedine Zidane in the all-time scorers’ list.
Be the first to comment