Tag: France

Categories
football Slides Sports News

Europe top teams win WCup qualifiers as Swiss move goalposts

World Cup qualifying in Europe took a quirky turn when the goalposts were removed before a match between Switzerland and Lithuania because they were deemed the incorrect size.

It was one of the few things that didn’t go to script on Sunday.

All of the continent’s heavyweight countries secured victories, though Spain left it late — the second minute of stoppage time, to be precise — to see off Georgia 2-1 after falling behind.

Like Spain, France started its qualification campaign with an unexpected draw at home but also got back on track in its second game, easing to a 2-0 win at Kazakhstan.

Italy stretched its unbeaten streak to 24 games with a 2-0 win in Bulgaria, and England also moved onto a maximum six points in group play with a 2-0 victory at Albania. Germany made it two straight wins to open qualifying, too, by beating Romania 1-0 away.

Meanwhile, Denmark became the latest European team to use the World Cup qualifiers to direct attention to workers’ rights in 2022 host Qatar. Its players wore red T-shirts with the slogan “Football supports change” for the team photo before kickoff against Moldova, which Denmark went on to beat 8-0.

The Danish soccer federation said the shirts will be signed and auctioned to raise money for projects with Amnesty International that help migrant workers in Qatar.

OLMO RESCUES SPAIN

Dani Olmo came off the bench to snatch a come-from-behind win for Spain, his long-range shot getting palmed into the top corner of the net by flailing Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Loria.

Ferran Torres’ fifth goal in six starts gave Spain, the 2010 world champion, the equalizer in the 55th after Georgia went ahead a minute before halftime.

Sweden looks like being Spain’s biggest challenger in Group B for the one automatic qualifying place after sealing a second straight win by beating Kosovo 3-0.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, freshly out of international retirement, had a hand in two of the goals having also claimed an assist on his first game back, the 1-0 win over Georgia on Thursday.

Spain started out by drawing 1-1 with Greece.

PENALTY MISS

A missed penalty by Kylian Mbappe had little effect for France in its comfortable win in Kazakhstan.

The world champions were already two goals ahead by then, through Ousmane Dembele — one of a raft of changes by Didier Deschamps — and an own-goal by Sergey Malyy in the first half.

Mbappe came on after Anthony Martial appeared to hurt his knee getting his studs caught in the synthetic turf at Astana Stadium, and the Paris Saint-Germain star won the penalty himself — only to see his shot tipped around the post.

Ukraine and Finland drew 1-1 and have two points each to sit behind France in Group D.

KANE VS. LEWANDOWSKI

England plays Poland in a key Group I qualifier at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday and both of their world-class strikers look in good shape for it.

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski scored for a 10th straight game for club and country, netting a double in Poland’s 3-0 win over Andorra. The Poles opened by drawing with Hungary.

Harry Kane scored one goal and set up another for Mason Mount in England’s 2-0 win in Albania, which built on the 5-0 thrashing of San Marino on Thursday.

England leads the group with six points. Hungary is level with Poland on four points after beating San Marino 3-0.

ITALY FLYING

Italy’s back-to-back wins to open World Cup qualifying come after a perfect 10 wins in qualifying for Euro 2020.

Goals from Andrea Belotti, from the penalty spot, and Manuel Locatelli, the first for his country, followed up a victory over Northern Ireland on Thursday.

Switzerland is only behind Italy on goal difference after its 1-0 win over Lithuania, secured by an early goal from Liverpool winger Xherdan Shaqiri. The start of the game was delayed by 10 minutes because one of the goals was not regulation size and had to be changed.

GERMANY TOP

Germany tops Group J on goal difference after Serge Gnabry finished off a team move in the 16th minute that involved Chelsea players Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz.

The Germans are rebuilding after a 6-0 Nations League loss to Spain in November.

Armenia is also on six points after beating Iceland 2-0, while North Macedonia cruised to a 5-0 win over Liechtenstein for its first points of qualifying.

RECORD WIN

Denmark earned its biggest win in a World Cup or European Championship qualifier.

Kasper Dolberg and Mikkel Damsgaard both scored twice in Herning for the Danes, who were 5-0 up after 39 minutes.

Denmark is the only team in Group F with six points. Austria is two back after coming from behind to beat the Faroe Islands 3-1, while Israel and Scotland drew 1-1.

Categories
football Sports News

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE: OLIVIER GIROUD SCORES AS FRANCE SENDS SWEDEN TO NATIONS LEAGUE RELEGATION.

Olivier Giroud continued his remarkable scoring record for France with a brace as the World Cup holders came from behind to beat Sweden 4-2 in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday.

Viktor Claesson’s deflected early strike gave the away side the lead behind closed doors at the Stade de France, but Giroud soon equalised and Benjamin Pavard put France ahead before half-time. Giroud then headed in a Kylian Mbappe cross to make it 3-1 before the hour mark, taking him to 44 goals in 105 appearances for his country. Kingsley Coman scored France’s final goal after Robin Quaison netted Sweden’s second of the night.

Having recently overtaken Michel Platini’s tally of 41 goals for Les Bleus, Giroud is now closing in on Thierry Henry’s overall record mark of 51.

The 34-year-old has not always been a popular member of the France side but remains a key player for coach Didier Deschamps despite being on the periphery with his club Chelsea, for whom he has started just one game this season, in the League Cup.

“I am used to being heckled and jeered. That has just been part of my experience, of my career, but it only makes me stronger,” Giroud told television station M6.

France had already secured top spot in League A, Group 3 ahead of holders Portugal, thereby qualifying for the Nations League finals in October next year.

Sweden, meanwhile, finish bottom of the group behind Croatia and will be relegated to the second-tier League B for the next edition.

They came to Paris without coach Janne Andersson, who was self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus, but they took the lead in the fourth minute when Claesson’s poked shot went in via a big deflection off Raphael Varane.

However, Marcus Thuram, the Borussia Moenchengladbach forward who made his full France debut last week against Finland, set up Giroud to sweep in the equaliser in the 16th minute.

Thuram was again involved as France took the lead in the 36th minute as it was after his slaloming run into the area that the ball broke to Pavard to score his second international goal with a volley into the far corner.

Unused in France’s previous two outings after being called up despite suffering a hamstring injury playing for Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe replaced Thuram just before the hour and within a minute he crossed for Giroud to make it 3-1.

Substitute Quaison gave Sweden hope when he pulled it back to 3-2 in the 88th minute, and the visitors knew that, with Croatia losing to Portugal, an equaliser could keep them in League A.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

NGOLO KANTE SCORES TO SEND FRANCE TO NATIONS LEAGUE SEMIS AS HOLDERS PORTUGAL SENT PACKING.

France handed defending Nations League champions Portugal a rare defeat on Saturday, winning 1-0 in Lisbon with N’Golo Kante’s second-half strike to reach the competition’s final four at the expense of the holders.

Anthony Martial missed three clear-cut first half chances for France before Kante scored only his second international goal in the 54th minute, and his first since 2016, to end Portugal’s run of five successive clean sheets.

World champions France went top of Group A3 with 13 points from five games, three ahead of Portugal and with the better head-to-head record to give them an unassailable lead. It was only Portugal’s second defeat since the 2018 World Cup.

“Given the quality of the opposition, it’s of course one of our best performances of recent times,” France coach Didier Deschamps said of Portugal, who are the European champions.

“We deserved the win and we’ve fulfilled our objective of finishing top. I’m very proud of the players. They proved tonight that France are still a great team.”

Antoine Griezmann set up Martial’s first chance in the 12th minute with a slide-rule pass but Portugal’s excellent goalkeeper Rui Patricio blocked it at point-blank range.

Martial then diverted Adrien Rabiot’s acrobatic effort onto the bar with his head and saw another effort brilliantly saved at close range by Patricio from Lucas Hernandez’s cross.

At the other end, Cristiano Ronaldo forced a diving save from France captain Hugo Lloris and also wasted a free kick which he drove straight into the wall.

France finally broke through just as Portugal appeared to be imposing themselves. Griezmann slipped another ball through to Rabiot whose shot was parried by Patricio and Kante was on hand to score from the rebound.

Portugal had three chances go begging in the same attack, including a Jose Fonte header against the post, and Lloris made a one-handed save to parry a raking drive from Joao Moutinho, who then saw his cross evade three forwards as France held out.

“I don’t know what went wrong in the first half, it wasn’t what I expected but it was my responsibility,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

“We were better in the second half but then conceded the goal which settled the game… we had three or four chances to equalise.”

Categories
football Sports News

SERGE AURIER’S BROTHER KILLED IN FRANCE SHOOTING

Tottenham star Serge Aurier’s brother has been shot dead on the streets of France at 5am this morning.

The Ivory Coast full-back featured in Spurs’ 2-1 win over north London rivals Arsenal on Sunday evening.

But his brother Christopher, 26, has been fatally shot in the early hours of the morning in Toulouse.

Aurier’s brother was pronounced dead in hospital, while the perpetrator is still said to be on the run and is yet to be caught by authorities.

Local residents called the police after discovering a man lying on the ground with a gun wound to the stomach.

Local media outlet La Dépêche are indicating that the incident occurred near a late night establishment.

Tottenham confirmed the news on social media this morning with a touching statement.

The Club is deeply saddened to confirm media reports that Serge Aurier’s brother passed away in the early hours of this morning,” it read.

“Everybody at the Club sends their sincerest condolences to Serge and his family. Our thoughts are with them all.”

Christopher Aurier also played football, albeit at an amateur level, currently at Toulouse Rodéo in the fifth-tier of the French football pyramid.

Christopher also trained at RC Lens like his older brother, but failed to break through to the highest level.

The sibling also had trials at English club Brentford in 2011.

Back in 2017, Christopher was arrested for allegedly stealing from a sex worker in Lille.

According to reports the two men involved arranged the meeting via the internet, before threatening the woman in her flat with a fake handgun and tear-gassed her when she refused to hand over money.

Christopher is said to have left DNA at the scene.