France come from behind to claim friendly win over Chile
The Euro 2024 favourites were left reeling after conceding just eight seconds into their game against Germany in Lyon last weekend, which they went on to lose 2-0. This time they fell behind within six minutes to a Marcelino Nunez strike, but came roaring back with goals from Youssouf Fofana, Randal Kolo Muani and Giroud, before Dario Osorio grabbed a second for Chile late on.
The result will ease some of the doubts which had surrounded the French team following their flat performance against Germany, as they prepare for the European Championship in June and July. However, this was far from a first-choice French side, with captain Kylian Mbappe and midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni the only players to be retained in the starting line-up as coach Didier Deschamps made nine changes.
Among those to come in were the Marseille right-back Jonathan Clauss and the Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, both of whom were forced off injured in the first half in scenes that will worry their respective clubs.
"If we are going to do well in June, we will need to do much better than that," admitted Deschamps as he looked ahead to the Euro in which France will face the Netherlands, Austria and Poland in the group stage. "I am not going to jump for joy tonight. It is good that we won the game after a bad start, and it is always good to get three goals, even if we let in two.
"We will need to do things differently (at the Euro)," he added. "We have the capability, we have the desire, but we will also need freshness which we were lacking a little tonight." France appeared at risk of losing consecutive games for the first time since June 2015 as they fell behind early on to a Chile team getting ready for the Copa America.
Nunez of Norwich City
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