Giroud closes in on Henry’s goals
A clear victory in the fight against the curse of the world champion – and this despite an early double shock: defending champions France made a successful start to the World Cup in Qatar and, after initial problems, also shone times. In the finally clear 4: 1 (2: 1) against Australia on Tuesday, the already injured Frenchman had to accept the next setback – and that could also be very bad news for FC Bayern: Because that’s the Munich left-back Lucas Hernández who suffered the injury after just eight minutes.
France’s predecessors as world champions – Italy, Spain and most recently Germany – were all knocked out in the preliminary round after their triumph. The curse also seemed to threaten the French when Craig Goodwin gave Australia the advantage for their fifth consecutive participation in the World Cup (9′). But Adrien Rabiot (27th) and Olivier Giroud, replacing the injured Ballon d’Or Karim Benzema (32nd), turned things around before the break. Kylian Mbappé (68th) and Giroud followed suit again (71st).
With his 51st international goal, the double scorer joins Thierry Henry as the top scorer for the France team. Fans paid tribute to Giroud by singing his name over and over to the tune of the Beatles classic « Hey Jude. »
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A first victory against the Australians bodes well for the French. They also started with a win against side Down Under in the World Cup coup four years ago, but only 2-1 at the time.
In N’Golo Kanté, Paul Pogba, Presnel Kimpembe, Christopher Nkunku and Benzema from Leipzig, five of the best French players were absent before the tournament. The starting XI was still in sight.
This France team won the 2018 World Cup
Three-quarters of the defensive line was made up of FC Bayern players: Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Hernández defended alongside former Leipzig player Ibrahima Konaté, who now plays for Liverpool FC.
But for the French fans among the 40,875 spectators, the match started with a double shock: Mathew Leckie, a long-time Bundesliga professional, missed Hernández and served Goodwin, the 30-year-old scored his third international goal . To make matters worse, Hernández injured himself while rushing and had to leave the pitch after nearly five minutes of treatment. His brother Theo came to pick him up.
The French were slow to recover from that opener and got lucky in the 22nd minute when Mitchell Duke shot a bit too high from just under 20 yards. And then they unexpectedly equalized then, when Rabiot headed in a Theo Hernández cross without a hitch. The match was turning just five minutes later: Rabiot grabbed the ball from the insecure Aussies, scooped it from Mbappé with a hoe and served Giroud. The 36-year-old didn’t score at the World Cup four years ago, despite playing in every game. But even then he was an important element with his diligence and team spirit.
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The French actually had the control of the game they had hoped for from the start. It was also fortunate that they entered the locker room with a lead, as Second Division FC St. Pauli’s Australian Jackson Irvine headed in the post in added time in the first half. After the break, the French now had everything under control. Giroud, who just missed a side kick (50th) and Antoine Griezmann, whose shot hit Aziz Behich off the line (65th), were initially unlucky. But then Mbappé hit a cross from ex-Dortmund Ousmane Dembélé with a header and four minutes later Giroud gave the next header.
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