One last big rehearsal before the Paris Olympic Games. This Monday in Sochaux, the French U23 team faced the United States just a stone’s throw from the Olympics. The opportunity was therefore great for Thierry Henry to test his foals against Americans who will be in the Bleuets group this summer in the French capital. And after a narrow victory (3-2) against Ivory Coast this Friday, the former Arsenal legend decided to make a big turnover. Thus, performing well during their debut against the Ivorians, Rayan Cherki and Wilson Odobert were in the eleven and were part of the eight changes made by Henry while Bradley Barcola, Leny Yoro and Enzo Millot were unavailable. And faced with fierce opposition from the selection from across the Atlantic, the start of the meeting was sluggish on the French side. Consumed in the commitment, Guillaume Restes’ teammates could have conceded the opening score quickly in this meeting without two saves from the Toulouse goalkeeper (7th, 8th).
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Caught on the back of the American counter-attacks, the Bleuets were able to count on the technical qualities of Cherki and Akliouche to prevent the ball from burning their feet too easily. It is from these two that the Bleuets’ first offensives against the American lock came. In all the good shots, the OL playmaker recovered the ball on the left before serving a Kalimuendo which finally came up against Schulte (21st). And on the action which followed Andy Diouf’s post (24th), the spark once again came from Cherki. Stirring, the Lyonnais crashed into the area and forced John Tolkin to touch the ball with his hand on one of his juggles. Serene, Arnaud Kalimuendo did not tremble and opened the scoring for France from the penalty spot (1-0, 35th). And while the last quarter of an hour of the first act was controlled by the locals, this one-goal lead was not stolen for France: after a difficult start against the biting Americans, the Bleuets were finally able to react and French talent made the difference.
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The pace clearly dropped in the second half, France punished at the end of the match
Halftime did not only do good to Thierry Henry’s flock. Indeed, while they had succeeded in camouflaging their defensive errors, the latter have resumed their behavior in this direction. However, the lack of American inspiration allowed the French to sleep soundly while the overall rhythm of this second act collapsed. It’s simple, apart from Manu Koné’s unfortunate injury exit at the hour mark, nothing happened in Bonal who were on the verge of turning off the lights in the face of such a moribund spectacle. Even Rayan Cherki’s arabesques were not enough to offer a second goal or to wake up the Sochaux den. However, France was able to accelerate at the end of the match to take off.
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While this same Cherki was close to doubling the lead with a free kick which could have hit the mark within a few centimeters (77th), a discreet Kalimuendo in the second half came up against Schulte again on the following action (78th). Unhappy when he hit the post during the first act, it was finally Andy Diouf who offered a sigh of relief to the Bleuets with a nice shot after an ideal service from Akliouche (2-0, 80th). But just when we thought the die was cast, the USA returned to everyone’s surprise. Taking advantage of a guilty relaxation, the young transatlantic shoots reduced the score thanks to Griffin Yow (2-1, 86th) before equalizing thanks to Cade Cowell (2-2, 89th) taking advantage of a defense that was too porous this evening . A very frustrating draw for Thierry Henry’s gang who will really have to work defensively to avoid repeating the same mistakes in a few months in Paris.
Pub. on 03/25/2024 22:57 Updated on 03/26/2024 00:58
2024-03-25 21:57:21
#Bleuets #hung #final #moments #United #States
