Les Bleus’ have a chance to become the only team after Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.
The Champions Curse. This is an often referred term whispered around the football circuits, every time the World Cup comes around. The defending champions more often than not fail to rise up to the occasion when it comes to defending the crown.
Since 2002, except Brazil in 2006, every team trying to retain the World Cup, have exited from the Group stage. France was eliminated from the group in 2002, Italy was gone in a flash in 2010, Spain was brought to its knees in 2014 and Germany fell on its face in 2018. That’s 5 times in 6 World Cups that the defenders of the cup had to take the flight home without qualifying for the knockouts.
France are heading to Qatar to defend their title. As the spectral memory of 2002 still lingers in the background, this might be Les Bleus’ chance to exorcise their demons and become the only team after Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.
But it’s harder than it looks at the moment. Even though this French team is filled to the brim with talent, injuries to Paul Pogba and N’golo Kante have opened up a gaping hole in the midfield that the opposition is sure to exploit. They do have the Real Madrid midfield core in their place with Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni likely to combine well but they are still raw talents who are susceptible to small errors. Small errors are sometimes what stands between glory and exit in the World Cup.
They have also lost Christopher Nkunku in attack and Presnel Kimpembe in defence due to injuries but they have the squad depth to make up for it with superstars such as Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele leading their lines. Additionally, in defence, they are bursting at the seams with the likes of Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Jules Kounde, Benjamin Pavard and Raphael Varane all making up for a very scary prospect for the opposition.
But even with this squad depth, the team has been blighted with controversies. Mbappe, in particular, has been in the eye of the storm since missing that fateful penalty against Switzerland that knocked France out of Euro 2020. Then there was the will he, won’t he saga with Real Madrid, which the 23-year-old finally ended in the summer after choosing to remain at PSG. But recent reports stated that he was unhappy there and had even admitted that he made a mistake by re-signing with the French champions. But it will come as a relief to coach Didier Deschamps that the mercurial forward has not let his off-field worries affect his on field performances, having scored 18 times in 19 games in Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
France are drawn in Group D alongside Denmark, Australia and Tunisia and if people are under the impression that it’ll be cakewalk for the champions, they have another thing coming. Based on their recent form, Christian Eriksen’s Denmark have France’s number, beating them twice in the UEFA Nations League in June as well as in September. They also succumbed 1-0 to Croatia in the same tournament as the Luka Modric side gained a modicum of revenge for their 2018 World Cup heartbreak. If the World Champions can see off Denmark and survive an unpredictable fixture against Australia, they’ll most probably top the Group, which is expected of them.
However, 10 years ago, they failed to win a single match in their title defense in Korea and Japan, a fact Deschamps will be quite wary of. With a certain Zinedine Zidane lurking in the shadows, the current France coach, whose contract is up after the 2022 World Cup, will be hoping for one last hurrah.
News Source Link
#modernbusinessnetwork #modernbusinessindia #modernglobalnews #modernglobalbusiness #modernbusinessaward #Enterpreneurship #Startup #Enterpreneurlife #Smallbusinessowner #Sales #smallbusiness #supportsmallbusiness #handmade #shoplocal #shopsmall #investing #wealth #money
