France got their Euro 2012 preparations back on track with a convincing 2-0 victory over Serbia in Reims, France, on Thursday.
Les Bleus had toiled to beat the 131st-ranked Iceland 3-2 on Sunday, with defensive frailties exposed as they fell 2-0 behind, before coming back to win the game.
France coach Laurent Blanc insisted that the first friendly ahead of the championships in Poland and Ukraine would be about rebuilding fitness and rediscovering rhythm after a short break at the end of the season.
The second friendly showed signs that lessons had been learned.
Two goals from Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda in the opening quarter of an hour were enough to see off a largely outclassed Serbia, who are not bound for Euro 2012.
However, Blanc’s happy evening was marred by what seemed like a nasty injury to Stade Rennais midfielder Yann M’Vila, linked with a move to Arsenal.
M’Vila had his right ankle turned nastily in the first contact of the match with Dusan Tadic.
He soldiered on for a couple of minutes, but had to be replaced by Alou Diarra, his right shin immediately bandaged on his arrival in the dugout, before he was whipped away to hospital by ambulance.
However, team doctor Fabrice Bryand said initial tests on M’Vila’s injury were “quite reassuring.”
“There will be more tests on Friday, but the first examinations are quite reassuring, there’s nothing serious,” Bryand said.
“Tests were carried out on the right ankle and ligaments. We have to leave it 48 hours to settle down. There’s no fracture,” he said.
The match was France’s first since Blanc announced his final 23-man squad for Euro 2012, with Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Yoann Gourcuff and Montpellier Herault defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa the two men axed from his provisional squad, and it was two veterans who provided the goals.
In the 11th minute, Ribery kicked off a move down the left wing, injecting pace through to Gael Clichy, whose cross was parried back by Serbia goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic to the oncoming Bayern Munich midfielder, who had moved to the corner of the penalty area. The Frenchman mastered the bounce to hammer the ball back past the hapless goalkeeper.
Just four minutes later, Malouda produced a stunning left-foot shot into the corner of the net after the Serbia defense had lost the ball under pressure from Anthony Reveillere 30m out. Brkic only managed to get a fingertip, or two, on Malouda’s shot, which registered at a stunning 98kph.
Hugo Lloris was largely untroubled in the France goal, but he did produce a fine tip-over from a Branoslav Ivanovic free-kick in the 47th minute.
France play their final friendly against Estonia in Le Mans on Tuesday, with their opening Euro 2012 match coming against England in Donetsk, Ukraine, on June 11.
Serbia have failed to qualify for the championships and are building toward the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, when they come up against Croatia, Belgium, Scotland and Wales.
“We’re looking for perfection, but that doesn’t exist,” Blanc told TF1. “We had quite a few moves which resulted in chances where we scored in the first half. We were in better physical shape, but we’re not yet ready. Overall, I’m satisfied enough with this performance.”
“We tried to impose our rhythm on the game, and it’s that that made the difference,” midfielder Diarra said. “With the attacking talent that we’ve got, we managed to score very early and that helped our cause. There were positive things, lots of good movement.”
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS