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Kylian Mbappe marked his first sport as France captain on Friday with two targets and an help because the World Cup finalists romped to a 4-0 win towards a depleted Netherlands facet in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Paris.
Mbappe has succeeded long-standing France skipper Hugo Lloris and the brand new period acquired off to a flying begin because the Paris Saint-Germain famous person arrange the pink-haired Antoine Griezmann to attain inside two minutes.
Dayot Upamecano bundled within the second aim within the eighth minute and Mbappe acquired his identify on the scoresheet to make it 3-0 earlier than the halfway level within the first half.
Mbappe wrapped up the victory in emphatic style with two minutes remaining earlier than the Netherlands’ Memphis Depay had a stoppage-time penalty saved by goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
It was a show of ruthless effectivity from Didier Deschamps’ facet towards a Dutch workforce lacking a number of key gamers after a virus swept by means of their squad.
They’ll at the least console themselves within the data that their hardest project in qualifying Group B is out of the way in which and their subsequent sport is at residence to Gibraltar on Monday.
The French now head to Dublin to play the Republic of Eire however it’ll take one thing exceptional for them to fail to qualify for subsequent 12 months’s Euro given the highest two groups in every group undergo.
This was France’s first sport since their World Cup last defeat on penalties by Argentina simply over three months in the past.
There have been 4 adjustments to Deschamps’ workforce from that sport, with Lloris and centre-back Raphael Varane having retired -– they had been honoured on the Stade de France pitch earlier than kick-off -– whereas Ousmane Dembele is injured and Olivier Giroud began on the bench.
In got here AC Milan’s Maignan in aim and Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate in central defence, whereas there have been begins for Kingsley Coman and Randal Kolo Muani, two gamers who got here off the bench within the Doha last.
The Netherlands, with Ronald Koeman again for a second spell as coach, had been with out Cody Gakpo, Matthijs de Ligt, Sven Botman, Denzel Dumfries and Frenkie de Jong for quite a lot of causes.
– Ruthless effectivity –
France merely blew them away in an astonishing begin.
Mbappe has promised to play a unifying function for his nation after taking on the armband, though he additionally admitted that Griezmann was disillusioned at being neglected for the captaincy by Deschamps.
Often when Mbappe will get the ball on the left facet of the field he shapes to shoot in direction of the far nook.
That he didn’t within the second minute was telling, as he as a substitute selected to play a sq. move for the coming Griezmann to complete first-time.
Griezmann, reprising the midfield function he operated so remarkably on the World Cup, then arrange the second.
His whipped free-kick from the fitting was not correctly handled by Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, and Bayern Munich defender Upamecano was left with a straightforward end.
There was a contact of actual class concerning the third aim as Kolo Muani’s choice to not contact Aurelien Tchouameni’s by means of ball utterly did for the Netherlands defence and left Mbappe by means of to beat the goalkeeper.
France had been 3-0 up with barely 30 per cent possession, and Koeman made a substitution earlier than half-time, changing Ajax midfielder Kenneth Taylor with Manchester United goal man Wout Weghorst.
Solely a nice Cillessen save from a Konate header stopped France from scoring once more earlier than the break, and substitute Moussa Diaby then had a aim disallowed late on.
Nonetheless, Mbappe sealed the win two minutes from time, pouncing on a free ball earlier than firing a shot by means of the legs of Jurrien Timber and into the underside nook.
The night concluded with Maignan stopping Depay’s penalty, which had been awarded for an Upamecano handball.
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