Correspondent
FAVORITES
Of course Gibraltar is a weak team, of course reduced to 10 the 198th Fifa nation was even more so, of course this match will not count in the preparation for the Euro… However, after all the purges experienced in history of the French team by all generations against opponents of this level, the spectacle was not always there. This match does not make the Blues a winner of the next European Championship, but it confirms the serious and diligent state of mind which prevails in this group. Proof of this is with 10 different scorers out of the 14 scored.
Three goals, including a gem of more than 40 meters, two assists… And yet Kylian Mbappé gave the impression of not forcing his talent on Saturday evening against the Gibraltar cones. Now only 3rd top scorer in the history of the Blues (46 goals, 74 caps) at not even 25 years old, the French captain tends to trivialize the exceptional. It shall really not. What he does is extraordinary and even against a weak opponent, he transmits his rage to win and his desire to make an impression. Colossal.
SEE ALSO – Mbappé’s hat-trick during Reims-PSG on November 11 (0-3)
The youngest player in the history of the Blues since… the First World War, Warren Zaire-Emery will long remember his first with the France team. A goal, fifteen minutes of play and an injury after a dirty tackle from Santos which could have broken his ankle. The exams rule out a fracture, that’s already it. But the 17-year-old PSG midfielder still scored points ahead of the Euro. Whether on or off the field, he checks all the boxes to be the “super-sub” next summer.
CLAW STRIKES
198th nation in the Fifa ranking and destined for hell on Saturday evening on the Côte d’Azur, Gibraltar lived up to its reputation. Playing numerically inferior from the 18th minute with the expulsion of Santos, author of an assassin’s tackle on Zaire-Emery, did not help matters. Conceding 4 goals in 7 minutes during the first act, with a goalkeeper in agony on each French strike was almost laughable. We even felt sorry for the Gibraltarians, well aware of their weakness against the vice-world champions. Another great proof that these meetings are useless.
A full stadium, children happy as anything to come with their parents to attend a Blues recital, however, we were left wanting in terms of atmosphere. Apart from the kop of the traditional supporters of the selection, the rest of the stadium was a little too sleepy despite 32,758 spectators in the Allianz Riviera. We didn’t feel it, let alone hear it. However, with 14 goals on the clock, more than twice as many as those scored by Nice in Ligue 1 at home this season (6), the Blues did everything to win acclaim.