Deprived of a number of executives, Gérald Baticle’s France Espoirs team was scared during a half against Italy, in its first preparation match for Euro 2025 (June 11-28), this Friday evening in Empoli (Tuscany).
For an hour, the Bleuets thought they were getting a good little slap from Italy. But it was a saving slap, because the Espoirs, trailing 2-0 at the break and still pushed after the break, turned the tide and came back to 2-2 in a quarter of an hour. And they were very far from winning, in the end.
The French team can say thank you to Cherki, uneven in his performances and often controversial, but author of a goal (2-1, 58th) and an assist towards Atangana (2-2, 65th) this Friday evening .
For the Lyonnais, Olympic silver medalist, who missed the last two Espoirs meetings, this is the 12th goal in 21 selections. For his part, Atangana scored his first goal in blue, two minutes after coming into play for his first selection.
In defense of the French team, coach Gérald Baticle had to deal with a cascade of packages: captain Millot, Gusto, Akliouche, Ekitike, Merlin, Bakwa, Kouassi, Belocian, Lukeba, Lepenant, Rutter, Barry, Tel , Ugochukwu and Estève.
A month after their 2-1 defeat against Austria in Nancy in their last Euro qualifying match, the Espoirs, qualified for next summer’s competition, have recovered well, after being eaten up in the first period.
In the last twenty-five minutes of the game, the Bleuets largely dominated, but without being able to achieve victory, despite Kumbedi’s opportunity in particular (65th).
At home, at the Hainaut stadium in Valenciennes from Tuesday (6:15 p.m.), the Espoirs will have the opportunity to do even better in a new friendly preparation match against Germany.
