Karim Benzema, right, celebrates with Antoine Griezmann after scoring France's first goal against Honduras. Photograph: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
Thanks to his crisp finishing in France’s opening game against Honduras, where he was unlucky not to record the first hat-trick of Brazil 2014 – even if the middle goal was all too clearly pushed in by the goalkeeper – odds on Karim Benzema to win the Golden Boot at this World Cup have been slashed to 5-1 from a pre-tournament 50-1.
That’s right: as recently as three months ago the Real Madrid striker was considered a distant prospect to do anything remarkable in Brazil. Benzema has won the Champions League since then, of course, and is now performing with the confidence and poise of a player with a magnificent club season behind him – with 26 goals he has enjoyed by far his best season at the Bernabéu – yet it is a measure of how uncertainly France were being viewed that so little was expected of their most accomplished striker.
Then again, Benzema did not even make the squad for the debacle in South Africa four years ago, so he has no World Cup previous. Those two goals against the Hondurans were the first he has ever scored at a major tournament. With seven in his last eight games for France, the hitherto erratic Benzema is finally beginning to look the part, perhaps because he is finally playing regularly for Madrid and enjoying the full confidence of his team-mates. “Maybe he is our key player,” said the captain, Hugo Lloris. “He has a big talent and it was important for him to start well because he can be a decisive player for us.”
Lloris is one of only four survivors from the unhappy trip to the 2010 World Cup. Bacary Sagna, Patrice Evra and Mathieu Valbuena are the others, and though France are not in one of the most testing groups and judgment should perhaps be reserved at this stage, Didier Deschamps deserves credit for ushering in a new team spirit along with a whole clutch of new players.
Honduran physicality apart, Switzerland might be the most challenging Group E opponents in Salvador , but with a new-look midfield triangle of Yohan Cabaye, Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi already garnering plaudits as one of the sparkiest around – not that difficult, actually, when you consider how leaden Brazil and some of the African teams have looked in the middle of the pitch so far – France ought to be able to take control of the group and begin looking towards the next stage.
Whether the present France midfield goes on to make the tournament impact of some of their illustrious predecessors remains to be seen, but what is going on ahead of the middle line is in some ways more interesting.
Deschamps encourages his forward players to switch roles and positions, at times giving them licence to drift into different parts of the pitch in search of the ball. Not only did Antoine Griezmann and Valbuena switch wings against Honduras – that hardly counts as a tactical revelation – but Griezmann briefly operated as a centre-forward as well. That means, by the time Olivier Giroud got onto the pitch, the poor Hondurans had faced three different centre-forwards. That does not excuse their over-robust display – although France were guilty of 13 fouls to their opponents’ 14, and picked up three yellow cards in the game – but it might indicate why Deschamps’ side managed 10 shots on target to their opponents’ two.
Griezmann, who like practically everybody else in the French side has been linked with Arsenal this summer, is another player based in Spain who is appearing in his first World Cup, one who might not be playing at all but for the unavailability of Franck Ribéry. He has just four caps, partly through joining Real Sociedad at an early age and going off the French radar for a while, partly through picking up a one-year ban when he was back on it by breaking an Under-21 curfew to visit a Paris nightclub in 2012 instead of concentrating on a play-off against Norway. France ended up losing 5-3, Griezmann and three others were disciplined.
Deschamps could have attempted to rebuild his bridges with Samir Nasri when Ribéry pulled out, instead he unhesitatingly offered a chance to an inexperienced winger still untried at the highest level. Though only 23, Griezmann looks mature enough to handle the responsibility. “I knew I had to work hard and show another image of myself,” he said of his past indiscretions. “If you had told me I would be here now playing in a World Cup, I would have laughed.”
Not the most consistent performer for Real Sociedad over the past few seasons, Griezmann has nevertheless been closely monitored by several clubs in England and is considered likely to move over the summer. He has been mentioned as a possible target for Liverpool should the deal for Adam Lallana not go through – he would fit easily into Brendan Rodgers’ overall Anfield plan, and if Southampton really expect £30m for their player, he would probably provide better value as well. Particularly as he is three years younger than Lallana, who may yet end up at Tottenham, and versatile enough to operate as an occasional striker.
Griezmann confesses he does not know where he will be living by the time he turns 24 in March next year, but it will probably not be San Sebastián. He has spent five years in Spain, proved he has something to offer despite a relatively slight physique and lack of height that initially caused concern, and is ready for the next coach flexible enough to encourage him to play his natural game.
Arsène Wenger or Rodgers sound ideal, but for now Griezmann is more than happy with Deschamps. “The set-up with France suits me,” he said. “The coach gives me a lot of freedom to play between the lines.”
Thanks to his crisp finishing in France’s opening game against Honduras, where he was unlucky not to record the first hat-trick of Brazil 2014 – even if the middle goal was all too clearly pushed in by the goalkeeper – odds on Karim Benzema to win the Golden Boot at this World Cup have been slashed to 5-1 from a pre-tournament 50-1.
That’s right: as recently as three months ago the Real Madrid striker was considered a distant prospect to do anything remarkable in Brazil. Benzema has won the Champions League since then, of course, and is now performing with the confidence and poise of a player with a magnificent club season behind him – with 26 goals he has enjoyed by far his best season at the Bernabéu – yet it is a measure of how uncertainly France were being viewed that so little was expected of their most accomplished striker.
Then again, Benzema did not even make the squad for the debacle in South Africa four years ago, so he has no World Cup previous. Those two goals against the Hondurans were the first he has ever scored at a major tournament. With seven in his last eight games for France, the hitherto erratic Benzema is finally beginning to look the part, perhaps because he is finally playing regularly for Madrid and enjoying the full confidence of his team-mates. “Maybe he is our key player,” said the captain, Hugo Lloris. “He has a big talent and it was important for him to start well because he can be a decisive player for us.”
Lloris is one of only four survivors from the unhappy trip to the 2010 World Cup. Bacary Sagna, Patrice Evra and Mathieu Valbuena are the others, and though France are not in one of the most testing groups and judgment should perhaps be reserved at this stage, Didier Deschamps deserves credit for ushering in a new team spirit along with a whole clutch of new players.
Honduran physicality apart, Switzerland might be the most challenging Group E opponents in Salvador , but with a new-look midfield triangle of Yohan Cabaye, Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi already garnering plaudits as one of the sparkiest around – not that difficult, actually, when you consider how leaden Brazil and some of the African teams have looked in the middle of the pitch so far – France ought to be able to take control of the group and begin looking towards the next stage.
Whether the present France midfield goes on to make the tournament impact of some of their illustrious predecessors remains to be seen, but what is going on ahead of the middle line is in some ways more interesting.
Deschamps encourages his forward players to switch roles and positions, at times giving them licence to drift into different parts of the pitch in search of the ball. Not only did Antoine Griezmann and Valbuena switch wings against Honduras – that hardly counts as a tactical revelation – but Griezmann briefly operated as a centre-forward as well. That means, by the time Olivier Giroud got onto the pitch, the poor Hondurans had faced three different centre-forwards. That does not excuse their over-robust display – although France were guilty of 13 fouls to their opponents’ 14, and picked up three yellow cards in the game – but it might indicate why Deschamps’ side managed 10 shots on target to their opponents’ two.
Griezmann, who like practically everybody else in the French side has been linked with Arsenal this summer, is another player based in Spain who is appearing in his first World Cup, one who might not be playing at all but for the unavailability of Franck Ribéry. He has just four caps, partly through joining Real Sociedad at an early age and going off the French radar for a while, partly through picking up a one-year ban when he was back on it by breaking an Under-21 curfew to visit a Paris nightclub in 2012 instead of concentrating on a play-off against Norway. France ended up losing 5-3, Griezmann and three others were disciplined.
Deschamps could have attempted to rebuild his bridges with Samir Nasri when Ribéry pulled out, instead he unhesitatingly offered a chance to an inexperienced winger still untried at the highest level. Though only 23, Griezmann looks mature enough to handle the responsibility. “I knew I had to work hard and show another image of myself,” he said of his past indiscretions. “If you had told me I would be here now playing in a World Cup, I would have laughed.”
Not the most consistent performer for Real Sociedad over the past few seasons, Griezmann has nevertheless been closely monitored by several clubs in England and is considered likely to move over the summer. He has been mentioned as a possible target for Liverpool should the deal for Adam Lallana not go through – he would fit easily into Brendan Rodgers’ overall Anfield plan, and if Southampton really expect £30m for their player, he would probably provide better value as well. Particularly as he is three years younger than Lallana, who may yet end up at Tottenham, and versatile enough to operate as an occasional striker.
Griezmann confesses he does not know where he will be living by the time he turns 24 in March next year, but it will probably not be San Sebastián. He has spent five years in Spain, proved he has something to offer despite a relatively slight physique and lack of height that initially caused concern, and is ready for the next coach flexible enough to encourage him to play his natural game.
Arsène Wenger or Rodgers sound ideal, but for now Griezmann is more than happy with Deschamps. “The set-up with France suits me,” he said. “The coach gives me a lot of freedom to play between the lines.”
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