In their first friendly match of the international break, Les Bleuets had been filled with confidence by beating the European champions Germany to the title thanks to a thrashing by Amine Gouiri (0-1). The young Tricolores faced their Belgian counterparts tonight before returning to their respective clubs. Despite the best intentions in the second half, Maxence Caqueret’s teammates had to accept the tie (2-2) thanks mainly to the tie in the last quarter of an hour of the game. In fact, we witnessed, at the beginning of the match, a relatively long observation round between the two teams. After that, the Belgians slowly but surely took control of the game against a somewhat apathetic Bleuets.
However, it took half an hour to see the first big chance for the Belgian hopes. Served on the right axis, Largie Ramazani made a good sequence before crossing a low shot that passed right next to the cages of Yahia Fofana, attentive and present near his post (33rd). Just under ten minutes later, the Belgians cracked open an increasingly struggling French defense in this match. The Belgian 10, still just as restless, sent a love from the center between Tanguy Nianzou Kouassi, somewhat short, and Yasser Larouci for his compatriot at the forefront of the attack who was able to take over with his foot and beat the French goalkeeper (41st, 1-0). For their part, the Blueberries were content until then with the crumbs left by their opponents.
Bleuets are not far from turning the tide at the end of the match
After the break and several changes on both sides, the young French shots returned to the field with better intentions. From the start, Senne Lammens saved the team from him thanks to a superb save on a cross from Amine Gouiri that he returned to a corner. But the Belgian goalkeeper was only able to temporarily prevent the French equalizer. From a set piece, the French number 11 once again sent a remote-controlled cross to Kouassi’s head, who took advantage of his height to drive the ball into the back of the net (51st, 1-1). Unfortunately, the improvement was short-lived as the Belgians regained momentum and went to punish the defensive passivity of the Bleuets. Yari Verschaeren took advantage of a brilliant opening by Anass Zaroury to adjust the French goalkeeper with a shot between the legs (58th, 2-1).
Despite some attempts and many changes on the French side, Sylvain Ripoll’s players could not immediately reverse the trend. But by dint of patience, Les Bleuets managed to equalize in the last quarter of an hour of the match. Sepe Elye Wahi took advantage of a bounced ball by Rayan Cherki to overtake the Belgian goalkeeper and slip the ball into the goals (77th, 2-2). In a completely insane endgame, Nathan Ngoumou thought he would give his team the lead, but his goal was eventually disallowed by Wahi offside in the center from the left of the French attack (84th) . In passing, Aster Vranckx was about to deceive Fofana with a superb free kick placed at the entrance of the area, slightly to the left, but the French goalkeeper relaxed perfectly to repel this attempt (85th). Just before the final whistle, Georginio Rutter, strangely alone, took advantage of a bad position by the Belgian defense to put together a half volley that flew over the opposing goals (90º+1). With this result, Les Bleuets remain undefeated during this international break. A good omen for the future.