french strikers Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema warm up ahead of the France volt Bulgaria warm-up friendly at Stade De France in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris on June 8, 2021. A trio of remarkable attacking talents – Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema ( not to mention the understudy Olivier Giroud ) – provide an almighty blessing for France ’ s Euro 2021 campaign. FRANCE 24 looks at the prospects of this strike force taking Les Bleus all the way.

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The 1-0 score in France ’ s triumphant opener against Germany was misleading – as the french attack whetted football fans ’ appetite for the late round, with lacerate pace and incisive passes. Les Bleus deserved a much more generous score-sheet than a single Mats Hummels own finish. Although they were shown to be offside, Mbappé and Benzema showed consummate complete skills in two forbid goals. In finical, Mbappé showed merely how much three years of know have refined his grating endowment since Les Bleus ’ 2018 World Cup win – notably with an finely timed and positioned hunt to take advantage of an faultless Paul Pogba pass on a lacerate french counter-attack, setting up Benzema ( who was, alas, offside ). The Griezmann-Benzema-Mbappé trio had not played together until the run-up to the Euros. But so far they have shown the properly chemistry. Les Bleus were at their most deadly on the counter-attack, letting their opponents take possession like a gyrate spring before surging forth – evocative of the approach Sir Alex Ferguson ’ south Manchester United perfected in big Champions League games at their late 2000s point. here Mbappé ’ s lacerating footstep was at its most dangerous – specially because he has now perfected the art of combining it with delicate skills on the ball to confound defenders. Pundits were right to predict that Mbappé would become one of the best players on the planet when he explode onto the scene at the World Cup three years ago. His record of 78 goals in 80 games for PSG speak for itself. possibly even more significantly, the 22-year-old has shown the kind of resolve under coerce that can power teams through difficult moments in the latter stages of boastful tournaments : Mbappé was Ligue 1 ’ s circus tent scorer with 27 goals during a sometimes disruptive season for PSG, who were toppled from their condition as perennial winners by scrappy giant-killers Lille. Griezmann’s textbook bicycle-kick Across the deliver from Mbappé, on the leftover wing of France ’ randomness approach, Antoine Griezmann is another colossus of the game who has shown great doggedness for his baseball club. Griezmann spent five years at Atletico Madrid – the spanish capital ’ s wage-earning team who have long fought to supplant their better-resourced, aristocratic rivals Real. Despite some extraordinary players, Atletico failed to break through during this period ; the Europa League was the lone trophy they won. yet Griezmann loyally persisted there in the confront of repeated speculation that he would transfer to a bigger, richer golf club – while cementing his condition as one of the best footballers playing today, combining creative flare to create goals for others with the clinical complete skills that gave him 94 goals in 180 appearances for Atletico.

When Griezmann finally transferred to Barcelona for €120 million in 2019, the 30-year-old emphasised that it was out of desire to learn new skills from the Catalans ’ distinctively fluid extremely game, telling journalists : “ I didn ’ t leave Atletico for money [ or ] to win the Champions League or to win more trophies. I left to learn a newfangled style of fun, new philosophies. ” There is no interview that Griezmann shows Les Bleus the same level of dedication. He was named man of the peer for his extraordinary performance in their 4-2 final victory over Croatia – notably with his consummate elapse to Paul Pogba, creating the third gear finish despite France ’ s unpropitious position at that moment. then Griezmann demonstrated that he intends to offer the same quality performances at the Euros, with a excellent bicycle kick to the bet on of the net as the ball bounced towards him by chance in the warm-up friendly against Bulgaria. Giroud the ‘go-kart’? Karim Benzema was the player whose operation everyone was anticipating ahead of France ’ s 3-0 victory over Bulgaria. The 33-year-old Real Madrid hitter is indubitably one of the best forwards of his generation – with near-flawless put and shooting skills, as demonstrated by his 192 goals in 383 games for the spanish giants. But many were storm that french director Didier Deschamps included him in Les Bleus ’ Euro team. Before the 2018 World Cup, Deschamps said he was “ selecting lone players who could gel as a cohesive unit ”. That meant Benzema was still out. Deschamps had excluded him from Euro 2016 due to his allege role in a blackmail scandal. At the clock time, Benzema, who is of algerian family origin, accused Deschamps of “ bowing to a racist character of France ”. Deschamps rejected the accusation, and recently told journalists he has “ not forgotten ” what Benzema said. Benzema stirred further controversy last year when he compared himself to “ Formula 1 ” and Chelsea hitter Olivier Giroud to a “ go-kart ” concluding year. Giroud is an frequently underestimate player who enjoyed little play time for Chelsea concluding season, despite his altruistic performances making a major contribution to France ’ sulfur 2018 World Cup victory. But the “ go-kart ” got the last laugh against the actual Madrid striker – for now – when he replaced an hurt Benzema at the center of France ’ s three-man attack 39 minutes into the Bulgaria game : Giroud scored a brace after coming off the bench. Giroud needs to be careful to manage his relationships with fellow France strikers. Mbappé was notably absent in the celebrations for Giroud ’ s first finish against Bulgaria. french football fans soon understood why when tensions between the two hit the media last weekend. “ I was lull because sometimes you make a run and the balls just don ’ metric ton arrive, ” Giroud told L ’ Équipe television receiver. Mbappé told a bid conference he was a “ little affect ” by Giroud ’ s remarks : “ I saw him in the dressing room, I congratulated him on his goals, he didn ’ t say anything to me. I heard about it in the press. That ’ s more significant than what he said ; he didn ’ t say anything bad. ” But Giroud already showed that Les Bleus are much more concenter on capturing the trophy than on satisfying the media with disputes. As journalists highlighted Benzema ’ s disparaging remarks earlier this calendar month, Giroud told french casual Le Figaro that winning the Euros is the crucial thing – and that he and Benzema will “ celebrate it with a go-kart race ” .
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