Photo: Benzema celebrating a goal with temmates (Getty Images)
The French kicks off their World Cup 2014 campaign with a match against CONCACAF representatives Honduras in today’s second game. On paper this seems like a straight forward victory for Les Bleus but after seeing Costa Rica stun Uruguay Didier Deschamps men will not take this fixture lightly. Honduras are competing in their third World Cup and has never reached the knock-out stages so this is their chance to create history.
France has quite a young team with some experience in there but they will have to do without star man Franck Ribery who was ruled out of the tournament with a back injury. Honduras has a full and healthy squad to choose from and manager Luis Fernando Suarez would have been encouraged after their warm-up match against England ended in a draw.
Honduras will call upon Olimpia’s Noel Valladares in goal behind Hull City’s Maynor Figueroa and Victor Bernardez of San Jose Earthquakes in central defense. Celtic’s Emilio Izaguirre should start at left back with Brayan Beckeles of Olimpia at right back.
Stoke City’s Wilson Palacios should be partnered in central midfield with Luis Garrido of Olimpia trying to keep Les Bleus at bay. In attack, Houston Dynamo’s Oscar Garcia should provide New England Revolution striker Jerry Bengtson and Real Espana’s Carlo Costly with the supply needed to trouble the French defense.
Deschamps on the other hand has skipper Hugo Lloris of Tottenham to call upon. He will be protected by Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny who could be partnered by Mamadou Sakho of Liverpool even though Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane has a big chance to feature in the first 11. Bacary Sagna should be available at right back as does Patrice Evra of Manchester United on the left.
French football rising star Paul Pogba should start in central midifeld alongside PSG’s pair of Blaise Matuidi and Yohan Cabaye. Cabaye is the most adventurous of the three and he should push forward quite a lot with Pogba and Matuidi providing steel, athleticism and mobility in the middle of the park protecting the defense.
Karim Benzema of Real Madrid should be the spearhead of attack in the absence of Ribery but he should be given great support from Real Sociedad’s young star Antoine Griezmann and the busy yet crafty Mathieu Valbuena of Marseille.
Les Blues will be looking to make things right this time around after a horrow showing in South Africa four years ago. They have a great chance to make a good start which would give them some confidence going into their second fixture. They can’t take the Hondurans lightly however because they have a bit of quality and they could posed a threat going forward. However, France are expected to leave Porto Alegre with all three points.
Players to Watch:
France – Paul Pogba, Karim Benzema, Mathieu Valbuena
Honduras: Wilson Palacios, Emilio Izaguirre, Carlo Costly
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