Group D: France 0 Netherlands 0
Even the ultimate super sub failed to separate France and the Netherlands. Wout Weghorst entered the fray late on. The giant Dutch striker has a habit of scoring when it really matters. He did it against Argentina at the World Cup in Lusail. He did it last Sunday to sink Poland in Hamburg.
But Weghorst could not liven up the lethargy of Leipzig.
And anyway, a 0-0 was due. Spectators have been spoiled at Euro 2024. France will be the least satisfied. One man in particular. Antoine Griezmann could be out there shooting into an empty net all night, and still he would only dent the advertising hoardings.
The problem with a virtuoso like Kylian Mbappé sitting glumly on the bench became all too obvious. The focus cannot possibly stay on the pitch, especially with the big screen in Zentralstadion and television director showing his face whenever possible.
Look, Mbappé is warming-up with a black mask. Like Zorro. Look, his nose appears to be healing. The game almost became background noise.
In French football, before Mbappé, there was Zinedine Zidane, and before Zizou there was Michel Platini. Take them away and comparisons are inevitable. Look, Marcus Thuram beats the Dutch offside trap from a Jules Koundé delivery, only to blaze over from a tight angle. Betcha Mbappé would have slid his shot across Bart Verbruggen.
In actual fact, from a match-up point of view, holding the Real Madrid-bound genius until France play Poland next Tuesday served to energise the Netherlands.
Initially, anyway. Not 50 seconds were clocked when Jeremie Frimpong sprinted past Theo Hernandez – no mean feat – only for Mike Maignan to touch a scuffed effort around the far post.
Before Mbappé entered our lives, France had the classy Griezmann. They still do. Skipper for the night, the blonde haired, blue eyed one wasted five goal chances in the first half alone. Six in total.
Verbruggen matched his early shot but a double-sitter in the 14th minute should have put France in front. Thuram’s backheel took Virgil van Dijk out of the equation and put Adrien Rabiot clean through but instead of finishing, his square ball saw Griezmann lose his footing and mishit.
Spinning around, Griezmann regained possession but, clearly dizzy, he shot in the wrong direction before covering his face in embarrassment. The Dutch were in disarray, prompting N’Golo Kanté to send the ball back across the six-yard box, only for the French vice-captain, under van Dijk’s shadow, to curl a snapshot wide.
Next, Cody Gakpo did an Oranje impression of Mbappé, cutting off the left to draw a strong parry from Maignan.
Do not be fooled, this was less end to end extravaganza, more snail sprint.
Griezmann’s chance (number four) summed up the contest. Rabiot’s cross caught Van Dijk out of position, again, but Les Bleus’ creator-in-chief glanced a soft header into Verbruggen’s body.
Cue an avalanche of memes showing a bowler missing all 10 pins from point blank range.
Time to reassess. And anyway, topping Group D could result in a tougher last 16 tie against Turkey or Portugal back in Leipzig on July 2nd. Second place face Group E runners-up which remains a toss up between Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia and the underwhelming Belgium.
The second half started with no changes to either side. Same story, though. As the contest trundled past the hour, Kante upped the French tempo, appearing wide left, which encouraged Aurelien Tchouameni to steam through the middle.
All this movement allowed Griezmann to ghost into the striker’s slot once again. And guess what, he failed to clear Verbruggen from two yards.
The Dutch appeared to make the French pay in the 69th minute; Gakpo’s pass gave Memphis Depay a chance but Maignan blocked the ball straight to Xavi Simons, who rattled the net from 12 yards.
VAR took a long time to erase the goal as Denzel Dumfries was offside and blocking Maignan.
Guess whose face appeared next?
France manager Didier Deschamp was having none of it, replacing Thuram with Olivier Giroud, who happens to be the country’s record goal scorer, on 57, just 10 clear of...Mbappé.
Never has an unused substitute made such a commotion.
France: Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez; Kante, Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele (Coman 75), Griezmann, Thuram (Giroud 75).
Netherlands: Verbruggen; Dumfries, de Vrij, van Dijk, Ake; Schouten (Geertruida 73), Reijnders, Frimpong (Veerman 73); Simons (Wijnaldum 73), Gakpo, Depay (Weghorst 79).
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
Ends
