(GFWC Match 10) Honours Even as Colombia Face France

A Chapter by Steve Clark

The following articles highlight the process of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and their demise from the governance of international football and the rise of Global Futbol.

June 17th, 2018 (Match 10)

Honours Even as Colombia Face France

France 1-1 Colombia

Colombia held France to a draw in Group E’s first game, as the second half produced a Cuadrado goal, followed by a Griezmann equaliser in the 79th minute.

The first half was fairly even, with both teams having chances.

Griezmann took the first real chance, but Colombian goalkeeper Ospina managed to clamber on the ball.

Cuadrado took a shot, but the ball was high and wide. Falcao also had an open chance with a cross, but the header petered across the face of goal.

Colombia gained a slight advantage in the last ten minutes of the half. Falcao missed another opportunity with a corner by Rodriguez, his volley firing wide.

Colombia continued to win patches in midfield and had more attacking chances than France. This led to the first goal. Falcao drove the ball deep to the baseline, where halftime substitute Uribe crossed it on his first touch. Spinning away from the goalkeeper, Cuadrado read the trajectory and rose above Sidibe. His header guided past Lloris and the Colombians celebrated taking the lead over one of the World Cup favourites.

France needed to improve their game. Matuidi missed a straightforward chance, firing over the bar with minimal defensive pressure.

French coach Didier Deschamps saw a way to a goal and made a tactical shift, as Pogba was not having a decisive impact on the game. Griezmann switched to CAM while Pogba substituted off for Giroud, who took control up forward.

This tactical change brought about a Griezmann goal. Mbappe brought the Colombian defence out towards the left corner flag, before passing the ball back to Griezmann. Griezmann followed the line of the box, outrunning Colombian Aguilar. Once clear, he fired for the goal and leveled the score with eleven minutes remaining.

Man of the Match Griezmann would not be outdone. He had another chance to score, but the left footer had no power and Ospina covered it easily. Giroud had three late shots, the first needing an Ospina diving save. The second, from the resulting corner, had the slightest touch off Aguilar. Once again, Giroud became the target from this second corner, but missed over the bar. The referee blew the whistle immediately after, and the game ended in a draw.

At the end of the game, the spectators struggled to define the better team on the day. France had the late chances to win, but Colombia held their own for long periods of the game.

Deschamps will have to address crosses in training. His players had multiple crosses, but none went to the target. It was the corners that were far better towards the end, but they were not enough to win. The issue of Pogba is ever on the mind of the coach, it would seem. He had a high possession game, but could not turn that into anything effective for his teammates. Perhaps a position change, or the opportunity to come off the bench and use his fresh legs, will be more beneficial for the team.

Colombian coach José Pékerman will relish seeing a goal from right midfield, though it was a little disappointing that Rodriguez struggled to get in the game. Towards the end of the first half, he needed to go back into a more midfield role to gain touches. In fact, he was as far back as the last Colombia defender at one stage. His countrymen will hope more from the talisman when they face Lithuania on Saturday.

France’s next game is also on Saturday, against Kenya. Both today’s teams will be watching their opponents in tomorrow’s opening game at Nizhny Novgorod.