All of Didier Deschamps’ wishes came true on Tuesday October 17 in Villeneuve-d’Ascq (North). Against Scotland, the French coach was able to give playing time to players who had lost the habit, offer young Castello Lukeba his first selection, test new affinities, and all this, without the slightest injury. Unbeknownst to them, the Blues even offered a little suspense to the 50,000 supporters present at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium after the opening of Billy Gilmour’s Scottish score (0-1, 11th). “In the first quarter of an hour, we were apathetic, so a mistake led to a goal,” remarked the coach on TF1 after the match.
But like Eduardo Camavinga, at fault on the first goal, the French quickly corrected their situation to finally win (4-1) against the Scots who were helpless in the face of the French offensive armada. However, it was indeed a defender of the Blues who sparked the revolt in the North. As a symbol, Benjamin Pavard, trained in Lille and currently little used by Deschamps in the France team, equalized with a header, receiving a corner from Antoine Griezmann (1-1, 16th).
A double from Pavard in eight minutes to sound the revolt
Established in the central hinge – his club position – the Inter Milan defender did not stop there. Eight minutes later, the Frenchman did it again, still with a header, to allow his teammates to take the lead (2-1, 24th). This time it was served on a platter by Kylian Mbappé, also very fit. The former Bayern Munich player could even have made history a few moments later if he had concluded a new caviar from the PSG striker (37th). Indeed, no defender has scored a hat-trick in the history of the French football team.
“Perhaps it will be for next time,” smiled at the TF1 microphone the one who finished the meeting with the captain’s armband around his arm. “It’s good [for him] this double because he’s at home. He’s not here for that but this evening, he cut the trajectories well,” remarked Didier Deschamps at half-time. A performance that “shocked” Eduardo Camavinga, calling his teammate a “surface fox”.
Kingsley Coman to close the proceedings
Energized by this surprising double from the defender, the Blues then regained their offensive automatisms and made the defenders of the “Tartan Army” endure a complicated match. Like Liam Cooper guilty of pulling a shirt on Olivier Giroud in his penalty area. After viewing the video, the referee had no other option than to offer a penalty to Kylian Mbappé, who did not hesitate to score his 43rd goal under the tricolor tunic (3-1, 41st ).
The Blues then no longer had to force their talent in the second half to maintain this advantage. This allowed the coach of the French team to offer little-used players the opportunity to show themselves, such as midfielders Youssouf Fofana (AS Monaco) or Boubacar Kamara (Aston Villa). Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), another entrant, completed the offensive festival of the Blues by being at the conclusion of a beautiful collective movement initiated by Kylian Mbappé and Marcus Thuram (4-1, 70th). Generally more visible with his club than in the selection, the winger scored his sixth goal in the North with the French team jersey.
The Blues can return to their respective clubs with a feeling of accomplishment after these two victories, four days after their qualification for Euro 2024 validated in the Netherlands (2-1). Antoine Griezmann’s partners will meet again in November, to play the last two matches of the qualifiers: against Gibraltar, in Nice, on the 18th and in Greece, three days later. As Didier Deschamps recalled in Amsterdam on Friday, these last two matches will have a stake because the Blues aim to be “in the best 5 of the first 10, in order to be seeded for this Euro 2024”.
