New Delhi: France and the Netherlands met in the second Group D fixture of UEFA Euro 2024 at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig. The last time these two European giants faced each other at the UEFA European Championships was in 2008 when the Netherlands thrashed France 4-1.
There was no such thrashing tonight as both teams played out an entertaining draw with both teams missing plenty of chances. France, in particular, were guilty of missing a host of chances as none of their attacking players could find the back of the net. Antoine Grizemann, starting up top in the absence of Kylian Mbappe, was captaining his side tonight and he failed to lead by example as he just couldn’t convert any chances that fell to him.
While the French were woeful in their attack, the Netherlands weren’t too great with theirs either as they failed to create notable chances of their own. Both, Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay, didn’t have a single touch in the France penalty box in the first half as they were marshalled well by the centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Dayot Upamecanco as they ensured that Mike Maignan had an easy night in goal.
While the Netherlands were given a slight moment of joy when Xavi Simons had the ball in the back of the net, against the run of play, giving the Oranje Army the lead momentarily, the goal was ruled out for a late offside call as the players were in the middle of the celebration. After a lengthy VAR check, the assistant referee’s decision was upheld as Denzel Dumfries was in an offside position when Simons hit the ball and was standing right next to Maignan, which meant that the AC Milan keeper didn’t have any room even to try and make the save.
Didier Deschamps chose not to bring on Kylian Mbappe from the bench as the game headed towards full-time, prioritizing his talisman’s fitness over his team’s result tonight.
1) VAR causes the first goalless draw in the last 50 UEFA Euro matches.
Xavi Simons’ opener was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check (Photo by Boris Streubel – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
UEFA Euro 2024 has been off to a flyer as the tournament has been a goal-fest and has been a treat for the fans to watch. The tone of the tournament was set from the opening match when Germany defeated Scotland 5-1. Before the game between the Netherlands and France, a total of 54 goals had been scored in just 20 matches, averaging about 2.7 goals per match.
It took until the 21st game of the 2024 edition of the UEFA European Championships for everyone to witness the first goalless draw of the tournament. Not only is this the first goalless draw of this tournament, it is also the first goalless draw in the last 50 games of the UEFA European Championships, the last of which was played between England and Scotland at UEFA Euro 2020. Netherlands and France gave it their all but they could never find that winning goal which evaded them throughout the game. Xavi Simons seemed to have found the breakthrough in the 71st minute but VAR played spoilsport as the goal was ruled out for offside.
The decision drew a lot of ire from the Dutch players and fans alike but the decision proved to be a correct one as Dumfries, who was in an offside position when Simons connected with the ball, was obstructing Maignan from making the save.
2) Kylian Mbappe’s absence weighs heavy on the French attack.
France missed Mbappe’s killer instinct in front of goal. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
The big news coming out of the French dressing room when Didier Deschamps announced his team for this encounter was that France captain Kylian Mbappe was starting the game from the bench and Antoine Griezmann was leading the line. While it’ll be a stretch to say that France struggled without their talisman on the field, they certainly missed his clinical touch in front of goal.
Out of the 10 chances created by their midfield and attack combined, France failed to hit the net even once. While Griezmann was guilty of missing two big chances for his side, Adrien Rabiot was guilty of not taking a shot when he should have on multiple occasions. It was evident that France were missing Mbappe’s killer instinct and his ability to terrorize defences and we might’ve seen a cameo from him had Simon’s goal not been ruled out.
Since June 2022, France have never won a game where Kylian Mbappe hasn’t started or played at all, drawing five and losing two of the seven such matches signalling their overdependence on their captain.
3) Defences on top as both teams squander chances.
Both team’s defensive abilities were put to test tonight (Photo by ANP via Getty Images)
Much has been made of the awful finishing that was on show in Leipzig, credit should be given where credit is due as the defence of both, France and the Netherlands were on top for the full 90 minutes. Upamecano and Saliba were an absolute rock in the heart of the French defence as they barely let the Dutch attackers have a sniff of the French goal, ensuring that Maignan didn’t have much to do throughout the game.
While France had two young guns marshalling their backline, the Netherlands relied on the experienced duo of Stevan De Vrij and Virgil Van Dijk, as both veteran defenders ensured that they kept the French attackers in check whenever possible. Van Dijk had arguably his best game in a Netherlands shirt and Koeman would be expecting similar performances from his captain if his side are to have a deep run in the tournament.
In a tournament that has been full of bangers and own goals, it was certainly refreshing to see defences come out on top as that is the most important aspect for a team when it comes to winning a tournament.
It was an entertaining 0-0 draw as both sides failed to make the most of their chances and miss out on early progression to the knockout stages. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
