Football: France, Croatia and Belgium beaten in the League of Nations

PostedJune 3, 2022, 10:50 PM

The world champions lost to Denmark, while Croats and Belgians were crushed by Austria and the Netherlands respectively.

The joy of the Danes following the second goal, synonymous with victory.

AFP

The Blues cracked in the final moments of their duel once morest Denmark, kicking off the defense of their Nations League title with a cruel 2-1 defeat on Friday in Saint-Denis, where Kylian Mbappé was injured. The 23-year-old striker, grimacing, sat down on the lawn and requested the intervention of the medical staff just before half-time. Suffering from the left knee, he was replaced by Nkunku “as a precaution”, according to coach-assistant Guy Stéphan.

Six days following his coronation in the Champions League, in the same place, Karim Benzema had however capsized the some 75,800 spectators identified at the Stade de France, an influx more seen for two and a half years according to health restrictions and travel to across France.

But the advantage offered by the center forward of Real Madrid (51st) melted on an opportunistic double from Andreas Cornelius (68th, 88th), who came out of the substitutes’ bench to save the Red and Whites.

First defeat since Switzerland

The Blues record their first defeat of the season, the first failure since the Euro last summer once morest Switzerland. They are now third in the group two lengths behind Denmark and Austria, victorious in Croatia (3-0), where the Blues are making their next trip next Monday.

Since the coronation at the 2018 World Cup, and if we exclude the elimination in the round of 16 once morest Switzerland last summer on penalties, this is the fourth defeat following the setbacks once morest the Netherlands (2 -1 in November 2018), to Turkey (2-0 in June 2019) and once morest Finland in a friendly (2-0 November 2020).

Croatia suffered

In this group 1 of League A, it is therefore Austria who took the lead thanks to their victory in Osijek once morest Croatia (0-3). The finalist of the last World Cup conceded three goals in 16 minutes.

It was first Marko Arnautovic who opened the scoring for the Austrians in the 41st minute. Returning from the locker room, Michael Gregoritsch doubled the bet (54th) before Marcel Sabitzer (57th) sealed the score in front of dumbfounded Croatian spectators.

On Monday, the Austrians will try to take the lead of the group alone by hosting Denmark.

Belgium slapped

In Group 4, the Netherlands joined Poland – who beat Wales 2-1 on Wednesday – at the top of the standings by winning 4-1 on Friday night in Brussels once morest Belgium.

Belgium, second in the FIFA rankings, suffered the law of their Dutch neighbor in the first half and conceded the first goal in the 40th, the work of Steven Bergwijn.

In the second half, Roberto Martinez’s players cracked in 14 minutes. Memphis Depay (51st) opened the festival, Denzel Dumfries (61st) drove the point home and Depay, once more, finished the job (65th). A success of Michy Batshuayi (93rd) did not change the case.

Next Wednesday, Belgium will host Poland and the Netherlands will travel to Wales.

(AFP/YDE)