PLAYER RATINGS | France 2-1 Brazil: Attacking talent makes the difference but defensive questions remain | OneFootball

France began their two-match US visit with a gutsy 2-1 win over Brazil in Foxborough. Goals from captain Kylian Mbappe and Hugo Ekitike were enough to secure the win despite Bremer’s late consolation, but Dayot Upamecano’s red card was an indication that les Bleus were not always in total control.

The Match

Any match between France and Brazil is considered a prestige fixture, stirring memories of Pele in 1958, the epic tussle in the Mexican heat of 1986, Roberto Carlos’ free kick in 1997, France’s emotional victory in 1998 and Zidane’s virtuoso performance in 2006. However, this friendly, played on neutral ground, with France in green and Brazil in blue, was never likely to hit those heights. So it proved, despite an exciting finish.

The first half began with Raphinha almost catching out France’s high defensive line on more than one occasion, before les Bleus took total control of possession but, as is so often the case, struggled to break through a deep-lying defence. However, just after the half-hour mark, Aurelien Tchouameni dispossessed Casemiro in midfield, Ousmane Dembele threaded a throughball to Mbappe and he calmly chipped past Ederson for his 56th France goal. 

France went into half-time having barely left second gear, Mike Maignan having had nothing to do and Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate untroubled with Brazil playing no one down the middle. 

Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti introduced Luiz Henrique for Raphinha at the beginning of the second half and his presence immediately posed problems for the French defence. Maignan was forced into his first save on 50 minutes and, five minutes later, Upamecano was shown a red card (upgraded from a yellow on review) for denying a goalscoring opportunity to Wesley.

This set-back seemed to refocus the French and, 10 minutes later, they scored their second, Ekitike chipping home a Michael Olise throughball at the end of a sweeping move across the length of the pitch.

That should have put the game to bed but static defending brought Brazil back into it with Bremer’s goal on 78 minutes and les Bleus somehow survived the Seleção’s final onslaught, more by luck than judgement.

A good work-out for Didier Deschamps’ men, which told us what we already know: France can be unplayable at times when going forward; but their defence looks a long way from world-beating.

France Player Ratings

Mike Maignan 6 – there was nothing that Maignan could do about Bremer’s goal. Aside from that and despite Brazil’s final salvo, he only had a couple of regulation saves to make.

Malo Gusto 5 – he had the tough task of containing Vinicius Jnr and for the most part he was on top, but there were several cheap losses of possession and much of the Brazil pressure of the last 10 minutes came from his flank.

Dayot Upamecano 4 – was untroubled in the first half but as soon as he had a physical presence to deal with in the second half he looked flustered and soon received his marching orders.

Ibrahima Konate 5 – although he was the better of the two centre backs today, if only because he remained on the pitch, he gave a standard Konate performance: some decent blocks but also some comedic air kicks and panics. Still not sure he is international standard.

Theo Hernandez 5 – one of his better France performances of the last three years, with some good defensive work. Still hasn’t found the brilliant offensive play of his early France career.

Aurelien Tchouameni 7 – the best player on the pitch until his substitution. Excellent defensive support, won the ball back in the lead-up to France’s opener and could have had an assist with a throughball to Mbappe.

Adrien Rabiot 6 – quietly effective, a useful presence in both boxes for dead balls, provided cover for Gusto when he pushed forward. A solid performance.

Ousmane Dembele 6 – a very quiet game – in part because he was uncustomarily the deepest lying of France’s front four – yet he still threaded a beautiful throughball for Mbappe’s goal. Still unable to match his PSG performances when playing for France though. Subsitituted after Upamecano’s sending off for Maxence Lacroix who, on his debut, looked far more assured than both Upamecano and Konate, but left Bremer unmarked for his goal.

Michael Olise 6 – some beautiful touches, one assist and some nice link-up play but still not yet as influential as he can be for Bayern – in part because other team-mates seem to keep invading his space. Hopefully it will come as he builds more understanding with them.

Hugo Ekitike 6 – an energetic, selfless performance with some great pressing and looking to always make himself available when France attacked. Was ignored a couple of times when well placed but kept going and was rewarded with his very well-taken goal at the end of a break in which he was involved three times.

Kylian Mbappe 6 – a classic Mbappe performance for France. Sometimes tried to do too much, sometimes stepped on other players’ toes by dropping into their position, sometimes lost the ball unnecessarily with arrogant flicks. Yet still scored the crucial goal. All the more impressive since he is clearly not yet match-fit. 

Brazil rating

This was far from Brazil’s first choice back four and it showed, as they struggled to contain France’s attack and were at times fortunate that les Bleus’ final ball was found wanting. Bremer grew in influence as the match went on and came close to scoring an equaliser after his goal. Casemiro was in some ways the most influential player on the field in that he was involved in all that Brazil did both well and badly – some dangerous passes including for Brazil’s goal but also losing possession for France’s opener and losing his head in general for long periods. Vinicius Jnr was disappointing and only really looked a danger in the last 10 minutes, particularly after Joao Pedro came on and began to stretch the France defence. Ancelotti’s team needs a big improvement to be considered World Cup contenders.

GFFN | Jeremy Smith