The French team fell 0-2 to an orderly Finland on Wednesday in a friendly match in which the locals missed several of their figures, although those who took to the field did not stop having much more prestige and cache than their rivals. The Gauls failed to react to two goals conceded in just three minutes in the first half. The azulgrana Lenglet left his position to the madridista Varane almost finished the meeting and his partner at Barça Griezmann could do nothing to avoid disaster after entering the start of the second part
France was constant but without imagination. Without Mbappe and with Griezmann as a starting substitute, he lacks a goal, something that the midfield muscle cannot compensate for, while the defense loses many integers without Varane, Kimpembe ni Hernandez.
In a match designed more for testing and with several injured or doubtful starters, the French coach Didier deschamps, He preferred to keep a good part of his stars (such as the limping Mbappé) facing the decisive duel with Portugal next Saturday for the leadership of Group 3 of the Nations League.
This gave Marcus thuram, Borussia Moenchengladbach winger and son of 1998 world champion Liliam Thuram, starting his first call with the bleus.
The same did the Finnish coach Markku Kanerva, which reserved most of the players who play major European leagues to give more experience to those who toil in their modest domestic league.
France started with its usual high pressure, supported by the physical power of its midfielders, which closed in a Finland with many ball exit problems before the wall of French muscle.
Thuram, a few weeks after scoring two goals against Real Madrid in the Champions League, He made a record of the danger he has in his boots by showing a rich repertoire of fast boarding, dribbling, good centers, technical details and shots, although he lacked the success to score.
His was the first great occasion, a header from a corner that left Joronen's crossbar shaking at a quarter of an hour of play. Two minutes later, he was alone in front of the rival goal, but his volley shot went high.
The first half hour was practically a Gallic monologue against the orderly Finnish lock until Sissoko lost a ball in midfield that allowed a dangerous counterattack that Marcus Forss, after winning in the race to Lenglet and being alone before Mandanda, culminated with a hard shot.
Unable to recover from the blow, the second arrived. Another French loss in midfield and Onni Valakari scored with a great shot from outside the area to the squad before the passivity of the local defense.
(+) This is how Finland's goals were:
The double hook to the jaw knocked out the French and encouraged the visitors to stretch lines, with good triangulations that allowed them to repeatedly prowl the Gallic area.
The second half started as the first had ended: a Insistent but imprecise France, symbolized in the gray Pogba and the missing Giroud, in front of a Finland that stretched with speed.
Deschamps looked for solutions on the bench suddenly incorporating Griezmann, Martial and Kanté. Then Rubén Aguilar made his debut, Monaco's right back with a Spanish father.
French changes had no effect. Everyone's tiredness left a final half hour in which not even an exhausted Thuram could overflow as in the first act. Martial and Griezmann had clear chances, but they sent them skimming the sticks.
Although it was a friendly, France closed a brilliant seventeen-match streak without defeat Y Finland showed how to contain Gallic physical might.
0 – France: Mandanda; Dubois (Aguilar, 71 '), Zouma, Lenglet (Varane, 79'), Digne; Sissoko, Pogba (Kanté, 56 '), Nzonzi, Thuram; Giroud (Martial, 56 ') and Ben Yedder (Griezmann, 56')
2 – Finland: Joronen; Hamalainen, O'Shaugnessy, Ojala (Toivio, 66 '), Vaisanen (Arajuuri, 74'); Forss, Kauko, Karjalainen (Kamara, 66 '), Schuller (Pukki, 79'); Niskanen (Alho, 66 '), Valakari (Taylor, 74').
Goals: 0-1, Forss (28 '). 0-2, Valakari (31 ')
Referee: Nikola Popov (Bulgaria). No reprimands.
Incidents: Friendly match held at the Stade de France, without an audience due to restrictions due to the pandemic.