Denmark vs France: Danes through after instantly forgettable Moscow stalemate
Denmark 0-0 France: The tournament's first goalless draw came as both teams struggled to impose themselves in Moscow
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Your support makes all the difference.A whole lot of nothing, frustratingly from a team with a whole lot of talent, and that brought a whole lot of Russian boos.
A still-strong second-string French team confirmed first place in Group C, but only after a first 0-0 of this World Cup, with a Denmark who also secured second place and a last-16 match with Croatia.
One of many issues with this appalling game was that events elsewhere ensured both sides knew that would be the case early on, so played the game out - in so many senses - in a manner that illustrated they had full knowledge of that, but that is not the only issue with this France team. This utterly uneventful passage through to the last 16 was itself of a manner befitting their World Cup so far.
They are probably the only side from the tier of pre-tournament favourites to “enjoy” a tournament devoid of real drama or major storylines so far, but that’s also because a team of such abundant quality is so infuriatingly devoid of any spark or inspiration.
And it’s still difficult to know what will tell more in a World Cup that will inevitably have some big twists yet. Will France’s steadiness carry them through in the most mundane of ways, or will an apparent inability to actually enhance any of their talent eventually cost them in the most frustrating of ways?
"It’s their big question, even if it is not yet a big storyline, or much entertainment. The Russian crowd let that be known, with consistent booing throughout the 90 minutes, and a properly loud chorus of it at the end. That is a sound that won't be entirely unfamiliar to Didier Deschamps, the manager.
Most of this is of course his visible hand. You could say Deschamps has continued the steady style of his playing career, but back then he undeniably facilitated the flourishing of greater attacking talent. As a manager, the concern is that he reduces that talent to mere functional roles, as has pretty much been the complaint since he took the job.
This is just one other element that makes the lack of all excitement around them so conspicuous in another way. They have the type of players that should be setting the tournament ablaze, linking up gloriously.
That doesn’t really happen, because it’s as if Deschamps doesn’t really know what to do with them, where best to place them. The problems that lost them Euro 2016 are still there. They might have even have got worse, because it feels like the team has got worse, even though many of the individuals have obviously got better."
For Deschamps’ part, most of the stars were on the bench for this game, since the French had already qualified for the last 16 before it started.
That in itself made the display a touch more dispiriting, though, because it might have been expected that Thomas Lemar, Ousmane Dembele, Lucas Hernandez and Djibril Sidibe would have put in more persuasive claims for a starting place in a team that has itself already looked so stop-start.
At the same time, some of that can fairly be put down to the difficulty of playing in matches as flat as this.
It barely had the chance to get going when it had already come through that Peru were 1-0 up against Australia, a result that would have confirmed Denmark’s passage to the last 16 no matter what happened here.
The Danes weren’t to know that straight away, though, and continued to look like they were the team that needed to score. Steve Mandanda did well to turn away an Andreas Cornelius cross from a break in the first half, but less well to almost palm a Christian Eriksen free-kick into the same player’s feet in the second half.
There had only been flashes from France, and one of them typically came from one of their few starting stars, and one of the few players that has really thrived under Deschamps: Griezmann. All of this, however, came from his own instincts and abilities. Shortly before half-time, the Atletico Madrid star - as he will continue to be next season - collected the ball in his own half and just continued surging forward, until he was just chopped down by Mathias Jorgenson’s. The Dane picked up a card, but the game never really picked up, as Peru went 2-0 up in the other match.
Nabir Fekir’s introduction did offer a few bursts of intensity, like when he tried a curling pot shot from distance or another low effort that - at last - forced Kasper Schmeichel into a proper save.
Schmeichel was at this desperately motioning the Danish players to get higher up the pitch, so that could potentially finish higher up the table and avoid a last-16 tie with Croatia, but the pattern had been set. The game had been set.
It just wasn’t moving.
France should hope that isn’t the case for their World Cup as a whole. They have been steadier than any other favourite, but that already feels a potentially stultifying misuse of their talent that could already be difficult to reverse - especially under Deschamps.
They go forward here, but not with much force. And not with many goals. A first 0-0 is their only real identifying feature as a side so far.
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