The France Espoirs team, however very reworked, inflicted a correction on Northern Ireland (5-0), Monday during a friendly match played at the Stade de l’Epopée in Calais. “In the first half, there were some good things but we lacked rhythm and speed in the game. We corrected that from the 46th minute and we had more spontaneity. When we are fair and we accelerate, we are more difficult to play. The substitutes made very dynamic entries. We had to play this match as seriously as possible and we were strong. The objective was to continue to progress, to keep and maintain our momentum,” said coach Sylvain Ripoll.
Four days after the difficult success against an ultra-defensive team from the Faroe Islands (2-0), the Bleuets coach carried out a major squad review with no less than nine changes at kick-off.
Only defender Pierre Kalulu and midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who had inherited the captain’s armband, were indeed renewed and no less than eight players experienced their first tenure with the Espoirs, three of whom honored their first cap: goalkeeper Stefan Bajic and defenders Castello Lukeba and Yasser Larouci.
A pretty ball stung by Diop
The young French took control of operations from the start of the game and multiplied the offensives. However, the first big chance was Northern Ireland: on a corner, after a header pushed back by Bajic, Joris Chotard made a save on his line to repel the attempt of John McGovern (18th).
The response from the Tricolores was quick and it was from the left that the opener came: served by Camavinga at the corner of the penalty area, Larouci overflowed and fired a cross shot which finished in the opposite corner (1-0, 21st).
Les Bleuets tried to drive the point home but the restless Nathan Ngoumou and Georginio Rutter sometimes lacked efficiency or accuracy.
The French continued their domination after the break and the substitutes made the difference after the hour mark: at the end of a one-two with Enzo Le Fée, Sofiane Diop doubled the bet with a nice stung ball (64th), then Amine Gouiri (3-0, 66th) and Maxence Caqueret (4-0, 72nd) widened the gap with two long shots.
Finally, the Lensois Arnaud Kalimuendo closed the mark with a good sequence of chest control-volley (5-0, 76th).
