France vs Italy
Italy head to France in a World Cup warm-up match, wondering just what might have been…
This is a fixture which should grace the final stages of the World Cup, but Italy’s shock exit in the qualifiers makes it just a friendly. How Roberto Mancini’s team would love to beat one of the tournament favourites to salvage some pride.
This is a good test for France ahead of their World Cup schedule, and it will be a treat for the fans of both these international football giants.
Talking Points
The World Cup draw has given Les Bleus plenty to think about in Group C, where they will face Denmark and Peru along with the Socceroos of Australia. And it’s a tournament they desperately want to win after coming so close in the final of Euro 2016. Failing to win as favourites against Portugal was hard to stomach, and these players want to put it right.
France began their final preparations with a comfortable 2-0 home win over the Republic of Ireland. Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud opened the scoring and Nabil Fekir did his World Cup chances no harm by adding a second before half-time. Lyon’s attacking midfielder is also the subject of speculation that a move the Liverpool may be on the cards, so it could be a busy summer for the academy product.
Juventus’ Blaise Matuidi was excellent in midfield against Ireland, alongside Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, in a line-up Didier Deschamps may well start with in Russia. That’s the kind of trio which could take Les Bleus all the way, but the form of Pogba is the key.
Antoine Griezmann appeared as a late substitute against Ireland but may feature more prominently against Italy, as he will surely be a starter in Russia.
Italy have to use these games to start the rebuild after their play-off disappointment. Defence is paramount and Mancini can build a team around the excellent Leonardo Bonucci. But it is something of an embarrassment for the Italy faithful that their recent game against Saudi Arabia was a World Cup warm-up for their opponents.
Italy, unsurprisingly, won that game 2-1. The mercurial Mario Balotelli scored against Saudi with a fine strike from distance, and Andrea Belotti staked a claim for the main striker’s shirt with the second. The arrival of Mancini may also work in Balotelli’s favour as the two had a successful relationship as player and coach of Manchester City. Italy failed to score in three of their last five games so Mancini needs a man with an eye for goal.
France have one more warm-up, against the USA, before heading to Russia to take on Australia. Italy, reluctantly, can take the summer off.
History
Oh boy, do we have some history here? Who could forget the infamous World Cup final of 2006 in Berlin when Zinedine Zidane charged at Marco Materazzi head-first to get a red card in France’s defeat to the Azzurri?
It was ZZ’s last competitive match as a player and what a way to go! Years later, Materazzi finally admitted to L’Equipe, the French newspaper, that he had insulted the Frenchman’s sister, and that’s when the red mist fell.
Italy finally won that infamous game, 5-3 on penalties, on a day football fans of either side will never forget. The current Real Madrid boss still has the fire in his belly and a passion for his nation and will hope Les Bleus can exact a little bit more revenge for him.
France won four of their last five home friendlies so ZZ can take heart!
What are the Odds?
France is certainly a team to watch at World Cup 2018 and the football odds for this game reflect that.
Asian Handicap odds price Les Bleus -1.00 @ 2.14, while you can get + 0.75 on Italy at an appealing 2.09.
The 1X2 draw @ 3.65 could be tempting with France wanting to hold something back for their World Cup opener and Italy keen to make their mark after missing out this summer.
Over 2.50 goals comes in at 2.17.
And, don’t forget, France is third favourites to win the World Cup at 7.00.
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