A collective sigh of relief at the Stade de France after a first win of the group for France, one that – with a similar display against Denmark on Sunday – should see them avoid relegation. With a sharper edge to their finishing, that would have been much more comfortable, though. After causing Les Bleus so many problems in Vienna, Austria just could not match the hosts’ quality and, in particular, Mbappe’s game-turning talent.
𝙑𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝘽𝙡𝙚𝙪𝙨!
France deservedly beat Austria 🙌🔜🇩🇰🇫🇷 Sunday evening#FiersdetreBleus #FRAAUT pic.twitter.com/vqrcOWsLWO
— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) September 22, 2022
Mbappé breaks the deadlock with a fabulous solo run and finish. He picks off a misplaced Sabitzer pass, before getting the better of three Austria players and firing home with aplomb. Long-overdue lead for the hosts!
Mbappe now has 28 goals in 58 games for France, that puts him level with Youri Djorkaeff in tenth place on Les Bleus’ all-time scoring list, and the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2000 winner struck his in 82 internationals. Mbappé is still only 23. What an incredible footballer.
France double their lead;Griezmann takes possession on the right wing, looks up and launches a ball towards the penalty spot. Giroud rises above his marker, and powers in an unstoppable header.
Olivier Giroud’s goal came with the ex-Arsenal man aged 35 years and 357 days, which makes him the oldest goalscorer ever for France. He’s taken that mark from Roger Marche, who found the net against Spain in December 1959, aged 35 years and 287 days.
There’s another milestone this evening for Griezmann, who’s making his 109th appearance for his country. That takes him past Zidane and into sixth place among all those to have ever pulled on the blue shirt.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said ,”We could already have been behind at half-time, but how we conceded the first goal was extremely annoying. In such games, it’s always about who scores the first goal. On Sunday, we’ll give everything to win the game and hope that France don’t win against Denmark.”
France coach Didier Deschamps said ,”I’m very satisfied with the way we played. The win is important, and we did everything we had to do, created a lot of chances and controlled the game with players who aren’t used to playing with each other. We’ve had very little time to prepare, everyone has made an effort. There’s a lot of positives.”
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UEFA Nations League France Austria Football Sports Kolkata
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