French Espoirs team: beaten and without desire, Thierry Henry’s Bleuets fall from high in Austria

2023-11-17 21:52:39

Without its captain Warren Zaire-Emery called up to the A and who should start the match against Gibraltar this Saturday, the France Espoirs team continued its qualifying phase for the Euro this Friday. It was in Austria that Thierry Henry’s Bleuets played their 5th match to try to consolidate their position as leader of group H. Since the arrival of the 1998 world champion on the bench, the Espoirs have played three times and won thrice. But the good streak is over: the Blues have this time caught their feet in the carpet.

Not very strong, clumsy, harmless, the little Blues were surprised shortly before the half-hour mark with a header from Paul-Friedrich Koller (25th). In the process, the Austrians hit the post twice (30th). As nothing went well in this first half, the Bleuets lost Lyonnais Johann Lepenant (13th) who came out limping low and complaining about his knee.

“We burned our joker”

Thierry Henry’s protégés came back in the second half with some better intentions. But nothing really sharp. It was even the Austrians who were the most dangerous. They again hit the goal amount of Toulouse’s Guillaume Restes on a strike from Polster (69th). And the Bleuets were logically punished a few minutes later with a double from Paul-Friedrich Koller (75th). The last quarter of an hour has changed nothing. The Austrians even hit the post a fourth time in stoppage time.

Off topic, the French have fallen from a height. This defeat does not jeopardize their qualification for the next European Championship. The Bleuets remain at the top of their group with Slovenia. The problem is above all that they are relaunching attractive Austrians in the fight for the two qualifying places. In the future, the little Blues will have to show a different face. “We saw a team opposite who knew it was their last chance to qualify. We burned our joker but the manner was not great. There is one thing necessary in football, and that is desire. Our level was very low and this must not happen again. And congratulations to the Austrian team,” declared Thierry Henry on the L’Équipe channel.