Further reading
If you want to rate the players, you can do so right here. It is understood that Didier Deschamps and Ricardo Gareca will be consulting these grades once they’ve had a shower.
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How about this for a quickfire report on this match:
Full-time: France 1-0 Peru
France are into their last 16 with a game to spare thanks to Mbappe’s first-half goal. Peru are out. Like Morocco, the South American were brilliant in attack until they got to the opposing box. Their play was entertaining and their fans were beautiful but all they can do now in this tournament is kill off Australia’s hopes of pipping Denmark to the next round. France, meanwhile, do not exactly march on: their progress is more of a Fartlek affair, spells of intense brilliance blended with slow meandering. For all their talent, they were at their most effective when banging long balls up to Giroud. It’s hard to know how far they’ll go.
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90+3 min: Freekick to Peru on halfway. Nearly everyone gathers in the French box for a Hail Mary delivery. It sails out of play for a goalkick.
90+2 min: The French freekick is headed to the edge of the area. Matuidi tries to lash it into the net. But his shot whistles wide.
90+1 min: Dembélé takes a corner short to Fekir, who tries to run down the clock in the corner and gets a righteous boot up the hole from a peeved Peruvian defender. Freekick to France.
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90 min: Peru have four more minutes in which to save their World Cup campaign.
France substitution: Nzonzi on, Pogba off. Pogba, like most of his team-mates, was excellent in patches, a little passive in others. It’s been a while since Les Bleus produced a solid 90-minute performance.
88 min: Guerrero sends a wobbling freekick over the wall but into the arms of Lloris. It was a gentle shot, in truth.
87 min: Freekick to Peru and a booking for Pogba after Farfan goes down in a heap after both men jumped for a bouncing ball. Pogba did catch him in the face with his trailing arm but it wasn’t intentional and can’t have hurt. But Peru have a shooting chance from about 25 yards, dead central.
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85 min: Corner to Peru. It’s swung over to the far post, but Umtiti rises and head away.
84 min: Peru launch a freekick towards the box. Varane nuts its away.
82 min: Fekir fouled again, by Aquino again. It’s as if the Peruvian is conducting his own examination of the health of Fekir following the aborted move to Liverpool.
80 min: Flores booked because Aquino clobbered Fekir as soon as the French sub get a touch. Confused? So was the ref, but VAR informs him - or was it Quino himself? - of his error so he cancels the card for Flores and shows it to Aquino instead.
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France substitution: Fekir on, Griezmann off.
77 min: Peru keep plugging away but France are making it very tough for them to penetrate.
France substitution: Dembélé on, Mbappé off.
75 min: Carrillo crosses from the right. Farfan, running in beyond the far post, stretches and tries to turn it into the net from an acute angle. It’s a good effort but finds only the sidenetting.
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74 min: Pogba hoofs the ball clear as Peru try to build another attack. No one can accuse him of being over flashy today.
72 min: France exert a bit of pressure up the other end for the first time in a while. But Matuidi’s attempted cross from the left is charged down. Peru are going to fight till the end, that much is plain!
70 min: Guerero forces Umtiti into the concession of a corner. The Peru fans - meaning, almost the entire crowd - go wild! And then they groan in unison when the ref awards a freekick to France as soon as the corner is delivered.
68 min: Guerrero sends a shot over the bar from 20 yards.
67 min: Peru are pressing hard for an equaliser. France are defending en masse. You get the sense something is brewing here: either a goal for Peru or a breakaway strike for France. “My World Cup hero was Signor Bruno Conti from 1982,” hurrahs Italo Cerullo. “Dark, flowing locks; an impish, bustling style, he gave Italy (finally!) the impetus to attack, be brave and win the whole darn thing that glorious year. And he scored a cracker against Peru in an opening round match with a cheeky Cruyff Turn and screamer into “El Loco” Ramon Quiroga’s top corner. Bravissimo Bruno.”
64 min: After a good bout of pressure from Peru, France try to deflate them with a spell of keep-ball. It doesn’t last long. “My World Cup hero was Jorge Campos: what’s not to love?” parps J Sims. “The ‘94 and ‘98 World Cups were brought to life for me by the flamboyant Mexican goalkeeper, too short for the position and in his wild shirts, but he jumped and ran and was so energetic he used the force of his personality to hold back the opposition. He could strike the ball well too (scored tonnes of goals at club level for Pumas) and would be all over the pitch at the end of the match when they needed a goal. Best memories.”
62 min: More neat play from Peru, working a shooting opportunity for Carrillo. His drive from 25-yards flies over the bar.
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61 min: Twice within a minute Peru slice through the French defence and get to the byline. But their crosses - first from Advincula and then from Farfan - fail to find a man.
60 min: Cueva dashes in-field from the left wing. But Pavard, who’s been better today than in the first game, brings his run to an end and then passes the ball back to Lloris, who donks it out for a throw-in.
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58 min: Peru do get on the front foot. And they work their way right up to the edge of the French area, where Cueva can’t get off a shot because French defenders close him down quickly. “After seeing the replay, how is that goal credited to Mbappe instead of Giroud?” fumes Eric Schwab. “It was past the keeper and unstoppably on its way into the goal before Mbappe touched it. If Mbappe had been a defender, that would be a goal to Giroud, not an OG.”
56 min: A French corner is cleared. But France will be back in Peruvian territory soon. Peru aren’t being allowed to get on the front foot at the minute.
54 min: Pogba takes the freekick short. France fanny about a bit and the attack fizzles out.
53 min: France’s freekick comes to nowt. Nevermind, they’ve now got another one in a similar position. Meanwhile, Willem van Schaink points out that it was Rob Rensenbrink, not Rep, who hit the post late in the ‘78 final.
52 min: Guerrero, trying to help out his defence, fouls Hernandez, giving France a freekick in a promising position on the left wing.
50 min: Varane slashes an attempted clearance to Farfan, enabling Peru to prolong the pressure. Aquino is teed up for a shot from 25 yards. He hits a beauty. But it bounces off the post and out!
47 min: A long kick out by Gallese. Umtiti and Farfan jumps for it and the Frenchman goes down in pain. The stretcher-bearers hurry on but it looks like a dead leg rather than anything more serious. He’ll try to run it off. “I think Johnny Rep would have been more of a World Cup Hero if he had scored in the last minute of the final in 1978 rather than hit the post,” interjects Bob Kirk. “The whole history of South America might have changed.”
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46 min: The teams are back. Peru have made a couple of substitutions: Santamaria and Farfan are on for Yotun and Rodriguez. I think that equates to Peru going for it. “Uruguay’s Enzo Francescoli was my World Cup hero, of course,” reveals Oliver Dungey. “It makes no sense on one level (OK, several levels) but so much sense on another. He was the James Dean of Mexico ’86: not much output but he spoke to your inner cool. And what is sport if it’s not about being cool.” Indeed. And Francescoli was so cool he was also Zinedine Zidane’s hero (he even named his first born after him)
Super Jonny Walters is suitably impressed
Mbappe is on a different level. Played against him pre World Cup and one of the sharpest and fastest I’ve seen #WorldCup
— Jonathan Walters (@JonWalters19) June 21, 2018
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@Paul_Doyle When I see how successful Giroud is for France I wonder, with some wistfulness, what Emery might have done with him at Arsenal. Of those cast off in January, Giroud is the one I fear we may regret unloading. He can be very special.
— Sam Hankins (@redjellydonut) June 21, 2018
The most criticised player in the world, as Pogba called himself this week, is playing very well. rather than slow things down or disappear, he’s been an intelligent and deft conduit of French attacks. No superfluous touches, just classy ones. Encore!
“My World Cup hero comes from 2006,” announces Patrick Cleary. “It was 2006, I was nine years old, and the woeful United States was trying to avoid further humiliation in a match against Italy after a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of the Czech Republic. Brian McBride, the Fulham FC striker who grew up 30 minutes down the road from me, was on the bloody receiving end of a Danielle De Rossi elbow in the 28th minute. He wiped off the blood, got a few stitches on his left eyelid, and finished the 90 minutes, leading the US to their only point in that World Cup. Brian and I now go to the same barber.”
Half-time: France 1-0 Peru
That was an rollicking half! Peru set the tempo but France responded in kind, and then some. Playing with skill and elegant simplicity, Les Bleus took the lead and continue to look dangerous. Peru, who missed a great chance to take the lead earlier, have a big problem: they need to find a goal to avoid elimination: and that could entail leaving themselves even more exposed to French counter-attacks. They’re be more goals in this one, I’ll wager*.
*I won’t actually wager
45 min: Lovely play by Giroud, taking down the ball and then twisting past Ramos and feeding Griezmann. Peru eventually snuff out the danger but that was the latest example of what Giroud has brought to France today: he’s fully justified his selection. And given his impressive scoring rate for France (nearly one goal every two matches), don’t be surprised to see him find the net at some point in this game.
44 min: Peru need half-time. They’re looking a tad weary and France have found an ominous groove. At last.
42 min: After some patient play in midfield, France suddenly turned up the speed and zoom through Peru. Griezmann collects the ball near the D and helps it on to Hernandez, charging in from the left. Hernandez unloads a ferocious shot that Gallese bats away.
40 min: Mbappé leads a French raid down the right. Players in blue hurtle forward in support. He picks out Griezmann, haring through the middle. Griezmann tries to ping it on to Giroud, but his attempted pass is too heavy, allowing the keeper to intervene.
39 min: The Peruvian fans are still singing their hearts out, and their team are doing their utmost to give them something to celebrate more to celebrate. but France are defending well and looking menacing when they zoom forward. “My World Cup hero was Mario Kempes from Argentina ‘78,” booms Seamus O’Reilly. “The first World Cup with which I was truly engaged. I was too young and innocent to know about the filthy politics behind the host’s tournament win and idolized their six-goal striker who seemed to dance through defences. Ironically - given today’s South American representative - two of his six goals were in that, shall we call it, ‘dubious’ win over Peru. I didn’t care then and I don’t care now. A World Cup deity.”
35 min: That was an almost perfect goal from France’s viewpoint: the precision and efficiency they’ve been looking for from their gifted players. No frills. Deadly.
GOAL! France 1-0 Peru (Mbappé 34)
Peru lose the ball in midfield. Giroud makes a canny run and Pogba finds him with a quick and clever pass Giroud shoots first time from nine yards. It takes a nick off a defender and loops over the keeper and Mbappé follows up to tap into the net from close range!
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32 min: Pogba clips a pass over the Peruvian defence towards Mbappe, who tries to improvise with a flying back heel. But he doesn’t catch it right. “I can’t let that comment pass”” storms Martin Gamage [see 19 min]. “I was on my way to Cambridge Circus to go to the theatre, Mr Rep was signing books at Sportspages. As the queue was lamentably long I had the choice of meeting him or disappointing Mrs G by arriving late for our evening out. Such are the dilemmas that one finds oneself wrestling with ...”. Mrs G > Mr Rep, fair enough.
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30 min: Flores beats Pavard and puts in a low cross. Guerrero gets to it before Umtiti and finds himself with a clear shot at goal from 12 yards but very little time! He bangs it hard with his left foot but straight at Lloris, who saves well with his feet!
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26 min: Peru with a long throw-in. No Iran-style tumble beforehand. And not much length, either. France clear. The game is tightening up here: still being played at a cracking pace but space is hard to find. “My World Cup hero was the great Russia keeper Lev Yashin, the Black Spider,” coos Daniel Jeffreys. “As a 1970s goalkeeper for Monk’s Park School in Bristol, Yashin represented everything I wanted to be - a great keeper, a darkly exotic existential figure in his all-black kit and wickedly handsome. I was so enamoured that in 1968 I made myself a black goalkeeper’s jersey with a number 1 and Yashin’s name in white gaffer tape. Little did I know that I had invented sports merchandising. To refer to your earlier thread, Yashin saved over 150 penalty kicks in professional football – more than any other goalkeeper. Now there’s a hero of the Soviet Union for you.” Great call, Daniel. And who knew Yashin turned out as a ringer for Monk’s Park School in Bristol?
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23 min: Guerrero is booked. I’m not sure what for: he had a freekick awarded in his favour and then argued with Umtiti and the ref saw something that warranted a yellow card, apparently. Poor old Guerrero, always at loggerheads with the authorities. What he needs his nice cup of tea at half-time. Or maybe not.
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21 min: Flores scurries past Matuidi down the left and then tries to eliminate Umtiti and dash into the box. But the defender is persistent and, after a couple of tries, dispossesses him.
19 min: A cross from the left hits Pavard’s hand and the ref awards a freekick. Peru send up their big men. Yotun’s delivery is good, but Rodriguez is penalised for pushing over Umtiti. “World Cup Hero?” repeats Martin Gamage. “Johnny Rep, no contest. Obviously because he was part of the (almost) all-conquering Dutch team of the ‘70s, exotic orange shirts and all. His name’s cool, too. And he could still draw a huge crowd at a book signing I passed in London a few years back.” A book signing you passed? Couldn’t you have stopped and helped your hero out by buying his book?
17 min: Matuidi booked for aborting a Peruvian counter-attack with a sly trip.
16 min: France have started matching Peru’s vibrancy, and their quality is coming to the fore. Giroud, again serving as an excellent fulcrum, heads a long ball down for Griezmann, who unleashes a half-volley from 18 yards. It’s straight at the keeper, who saves well.
14 min: From an outswinging corner Varane strains his neck and applies a fine header, which goes just wide of the far post.
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13 min: A corner to France is preceded by a long lecture to the defenders from the referee, who’s keen to ensure there’s no shirt-tugging and what not. When the corner is delivered, Mbappé goes to ground, but the ref rightly interprets that as a fall rather than a foul.
12 min: Pogba unloads an excellent swirling cross-shot from 25 yards. It bounces in front of the keeper and whizzes inches wide! A fine effort.
11 min: Griezmann flicks a long ball on to Giroud and then chases the return pass (pass is a bit generous, actually, as Giroud’s touch ricocheted off a defender). He’s slightly off balance as he lets go a shot from 15 yards, which flies wide of the near post.
10 min: Pavard and Mbappé conspire down the right wing, but Trauco puts an end to their conniving.
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8 min: Giroud takes down a long ball on his chest, layign the platform for France to probe around the edge of the area. That’s what he’s been brought in for. Mbappé tries to nudge the ball through to Griezmann but his pass his intercepted.
6 min: Yotun receives the ball near half-way and notices that Lloris is quite a bit off his line. So he tries to lob the keeper from 50 yards ... and the ball drops on to the roof of the net! The centurion keeper takes a deep breath and thanks his lucky stars.
4 min: Peru have set a terrific pace and France are just concentrating on keeping them at arm’s length for the moment. “Hi Paul, I see you mentioned about Jean-Marie Pfaff,” blurts Christoph Luth. “He is still a bit of a cult hero here in Bremen due to the time he managed to turn a throw-in by Uwe Reinders into his own net (in Pfaff’s first game for Bayern).”
2 min: France try to knock the ball about to ease themselves into the game, but Peru aren’t having that. They win the ball in midfield and quickly launch an attack, Guerrero sweeping the ball wide to Guerrero. Hernandez does well to poke the ball out for a throw-in.
1 min: Three, two, one ... we have kickoff!
The French players lend their voices to La Marseillaise with great enthusiasms. But they’re no Paul Henreid. As for the Peruvian one, well, such was the accompaniment that the stadium nearly took flight.
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The stadium announcer asks the audience to stand for the national anthems. Feel free to do likewise where you are.
The teams are in the tunnel, waiting to enter the arena, where a million Peruvians, or thereabouts, are already in full voice. If the play on the pitch lives up to the atmosphere off it, we’re in for a treat.
“Regarding vicuñas,” begins Dave Seddon. “They are behind a £495 pair of socks, according to this article in The Guardian by ‘luxury sock lover Dean Dissick’. How does one get that job!?” It’s not a job, it’s a state of mind.
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Oh dear, it seems I may have mistaken llamas for vicuñas. How embarrassing! “I think they are supposed to be llama masks in the photo,” tut-tuts Evan Garcia. “Vicuñas are generally more brown, and they don’t look fluffy enough to be alpacas. They definitely aren’t goats, because the masks don’t have goats’ oddly disturbing (to me, at least) horizontal pupils.”
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“For what it’s worth, my childhood World Cup hero was Hans Krankl,” reveals Peter Oh. “I also admired Jean-Marie Pfaff and Paolo Rossi.” Ah, Jean-Marie Pfaff, another penalty-saving maestro. Did you know he stopped nearly 70% of the penalties he faced during his time at Bayern Munich?
“Any idea why all those Peruvian fans in your photo are dressed up as goats?” inquires Chris Thomson. I’m guessing they’re llamas, Chris. To help you remember, perhaps you could devise a tongue-twister about llamas from lima? Actually, don’t bother, because I think the creatures may in fact be vicuñas, which are closely related to llamas and considered to be the national animal of Peru. So then, how about a tongue twister about vicuñas?
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With half an hour to kickoff, only Peru fans are visible (and very audible) in the stadium. These people know how to enjoy a football match! And in case you didn’t read about our man Stuart James’ encounter with some of them last week, check this out:
Hugo Lloris, by the way, is making his 100th appearance for France today, his 76th as captain. He’s had some jittery moments in recent months but is still regarded as crucial for his leadership skills as well as his ability. I’m not sure there’s been much evidence of leadership in the France team over the last couple of years.
Another claim to fame that Lloris can make (and thanks to today’s L’Equipe for this) is that he’s saved more penalties for France than any other keeper in the last 45 years. He’s saved two of the 15 he’s faced. None of them, mind you, were as good as the one made by Joel Bats from Socrates in 1986. And how about Mickael Landreau, who was often France’s reserve keeper but was a prolific penalty saver for his club, making 39 saves in his career (some say 40 but statisticians do not count one of them because the penalty was taken by Nicklas Bendtner ... no, sorry, because it was in a friendly against Arsenal). No doubt which was Landreau’s best save: this old playground trick that outwitted Ronaldinho in the dying minutes of a League Cup semi-final.
“I think Peru wins this 2-1,” predicts Griffi. “Peru will fly out of the gates and grab an early goal in the first 10 minutes.” That could happen. Peru will certainly come out flying and there’s every chance France will still be wiping sands from their eyes at that point.
There has just been a very entertaining discussion between ITV’s panelists about their childhood World Cup hero. Eni Aluko opted for the Brazilian Ronaldo; Slaven Bilic plumped for Socrates (“He was cool ... you know, power to the people”); and Martin O’Neill went for Eusebio and related an amusing story about how, after making his international debut for Nothern Ireland against Portugal, he persuaded the great man to give him his shorts (“They were exquisite ... I still have them now ... I wear them to the beach and everyone thinks I’m Eusebio”).
For what it’s worth, my childhoold World Cup hero was Luis Ramírez Zapata. For this. I don’t have his shorts.
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You may be interested to know - although it has absolutely no bearing on the outcome of today’s encounter - that France and Peru have only met once before. That was in a friendly in 1982, when Peru won 1-0 thanks to a goal by Juan Carlos Oblitas, a great player who went under the nickname ‘El Ciego’ (The Bind Man) on the grounds that he wore contact lenses to help with myopia.
As you can see from the teams below, there’s good news for Peru: André Carrillo has overcome a thigh problem and is fit enough to start. He was their brightest attacker in their first match and will certainly test the French full-backs - in fact, I’m a little surprised Deschamps hasn’t made changes in that department, as Benjamin Pavard struggled on the right in the first match and Lucas Hernandez’s theatrics on the left could have provoked a fight.
Less good for Peru, however, is the news that Renatio Tapia, their solid holding midfielder, is not fit enough to start. As for France, and as explain in the preamble, Deschamps’ two changes from the first game see Matuidi replace Tolisso and Giroud come in for Dembélé.
Teams:
France: Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Pogba, Kanté; Mbappé, Griezmann, Matuidi; Giroud
Subs: Mandanda, Areola, Sidibé, Rami, Mendy, Kimpembe, Nzonzi, Tolisso, Lemar, Fekir, Dembélé, Thauvin
Peru: Gallese; Advincula, Ramos, Rodriguez, Trauco; Aquino, Flores, Yotun; Carrillo, Guerrero, Cueva
Subs: caceda, Carvallo, Corzo, Araujo, Cartagena, Hurtado, Loyola, Sanatamaria, Tapia, Ruidaz, Farfan, Polo
Referee: M Abdulla (UAE)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to a critical clash in Group C. Peru were thrilling in their first match but lost; France were moribund but won; the upshot is that Peru cannot afford another defeat, otherwise they, their dapper kit and their tens of thousands of uproarious fans will be buckling their swash, packing their bags and taking the first flight home after the group stages while France head for the last 16. But Ricardo Gareca’s team aren’t going to let that happen, at least not without a fight. Will France be up for it? No one knows, not even Didier Deschamps.
Six years into his reign, France’s manager has yet to make a proper team from lavish raw materials. He has chopped and changed like a plastic surgeon in Hollywood but still not found a satisfactory shape or a consistent level of performance. Worse, his team were sluggish and clueless against Australia, unwilling or unable to press for the ball and unsure of what to do with it if they got it. Pound for pound, France might have been the most lamentable team in the tournament so far (although Uruguay were atrocious yesterday). If they do not improve, they may not make it out of their group, let alone make off with the trophy. Deschamps has tried to stimulate an upswing today by altering personnel and formation. Olivier Giroud starts as a fulcrum up front and Blaise Matuidi comes into midfield, where he is expected to provide balance and thrust. That’s all very well but Deschamps also has to get his players to take better decisions and show more gumption all round, especially if Peru play with the same vibrancy they showed in their opening game. The long and short of it is: let’s be having you!
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