Match Summary: France vs Netherlands – Group D: No Goals Scored
Despite Wout Weghorst’s late debut on the pitch, a stalemate was the result between France and the Netherlands. Renowned for his pivotal strikes during clutch time, such as against Argentina at the Lusail World Cup and the remarkable match-winner against Poland in Hamburg just last Sunday, Weghorst encountered an unusually dull night in Leipzig.
There were high expectations for Euro 2024, but the Leipzig stage was barred of goals, leaving spectators, particularly those supporting France, feeling deflated. Antoine Griezmann, despite his relentless attempts, could not seem to find a breakthrough, even if he would have the benefit of an unguarded net.
The French team visibly struggled without their star player, Kylian Mbappé, confined to the bench. The attention frequently drifted from the field to the bench, noticeable through Zentralstadion’s massive screen and the periodic shot of Mbappé’s face popping up on the live broadcast. Observing Mbappé gearing up with a Zorro-style black mask almost overshadowed the game.
Historically, French football has its legends, such as Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane. To omit such presences from the field inevitably stirs comparisons. An instance being when Marcus Thuram narrowly missed a goal, originating from a Jules Koundé pass, it was shared amid fans that Mbappé would have undoubtedly netted his shot against goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
It is also worth mentioning that presumably holding Mbappé back until the France vs Poland match injected the Dutch side with a sense of optimism, at least in the beginning. Quick off the mark, Jeremie Frimpong skilfully bypassed Theo Hernandez, only to have his shot redirected away by Mike Maignan.
France, once graced by star player Mbappé, and now powered by Antoine Griezmann, sure did miss their speedy striker. Assuming captain duties for the night, Griezmann, despite his striking blue eyes and blonde hair, disappointingly wasted six opportunities to score.
The game saw Verbruggen save an earlier shot, yet a golden chance for the French fell through at the 14th minute. This came courtesy of a devilish backheel from Thuram who essentially erased Virgil van Dijk, setting up Adrien Rabiot for what should have been an easy finish. A misjudged square pass however, led to Griezmann missteps and an off-target attempted finish in a state of disarray.
Responding to the chaotic scene, N’Golo Kanté hit the ball back across the six-yard box, but despite outshadowing van Dijk, the French vice-captain curled his snap shot wide.
In the following play, Cody Gakpo channelled his inner Mbappé, forcing a strong save from Maignan. Don’t let these dramas mislead you, the game was less a spectacle of end-to-end exchanges and more akin to a sluggish race.
A fourth chance for Griezmann encapsulated the tone of the match. Rabiot’s cross found Van Dijk left floundering once again, only for Griezmann, the French key play-maker, to prod a tame header straight into Verbruggen’s arms. This promptly triggered an array of memes showing the fluffed opportunity akin to a bowler missing a full rack of pins from close range.
With the perspective needing a shift and, given the prospective difficulty of a Round of 16 slot against Turkey or Portugal if they were to win Group D, the second position offered a potential face-off against Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia or a lacklustre Belgium.
At the beginning of the second half, both teams maintained their original lineups. Nonetheless, the narrative persisted, with the game sluggishly rolling past the hour mark. Kante accelerated the French effort, featuring prominently wide left, a move that enabled Tchouameni to break through the centre with vigour.
Frequent positional shuffling allowed Griezmann to reappear in the attacker’s zone, only to fail to beat Verbruggen from close range.
Dutch responded in kind on the 69th minute, capitalizing on Gakpo’s pass to set up a prime shooting chance for Memphis Depay. However, Maignan’s intervention knocked the ball straight to Xavi Simons, who smashed the ball into the net. A lengthy VAR consultation concluded that Denzel Dumfries was offside and obstructing Maignan, negating the goal.
Which face popped up next? Well, take a guess.
Didier Deschamp, the manager of the French team replaced Thuram with Olivier Giroud, holder of France’s record score of 57 goals which is only 10 ahead of Mbappé. This substitution caused quite a stir since a not-utilised replacement has never caused such a scene before.
The line-up for the French squad was: Maignan, Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez, Kante, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele with Coman coming in for Dembele in the 75th minute, and Griezmann, Thuram who was substituted with Giroud in the 75th minute.
The Dutch team comprised of: Verbruggen, Dumfries, de Vrij, van Dijk, Ake, Schouten who was replaced by Geertruida in the 73rd minute, Reijnders, Frimpong with Veerman coming in the 73rd minute, Simons who was replaced by Wijnaldum in the 73rd minute, Gakpo, and Depay substituted by Weghorst in the 79th minute.
The match was overseen by referee Anthony Taylor from Cheshire.