France vs Australia Review

France vs Australia
We started the day quite early with the 11:00 kick off. France vs Australia was expected to be a walk over for Didier Deschamps side. However, that was not to be as the Socceroos proved to be a stern test for the European side. 

It would be Paul Pogba to break the Australian resistance and hearts as the Frenchman's shot deflected off Aziz Behich and onto the underside of the crossbar and over the line to make it 2-1 on the 80th minute.  

The game started lively and Kylian Mbappe broke through the defence to test Brighton's Matty Ryan after just 93 seconds. The early attack provided encouragement for Euro 2016's runners up, and encouraged the French to play increasingly offensive and try and comfortably dispatch the Aussies, which failed to come to fruition, as Australia put up a strong defensive display. 

France took 58 minutes to put the ball past Mat Ryan, and they did it by making history. Antoine Griezmann went through on goal, and caught by the trailing boot of Josh Risdon, who initially played the ball but caught and fouled the Atletico Madrid forward. Referee Andres Cunha waved play on, but the video assistant referee penalised Risdon for his sliding challenge on Antoine Griezmann, allowing the Atleti forward to dispatch a penalty, making it the first World Cup goal influenced by VAR.

Four minutes later, a moment of madness from French and Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti, who handled Aaron Mooy's free-kick, awarded Australia a penalty, which was dispatched by Mile Jedinak's in Kazan.

Pre-tournament favourites France retook the lead after Pogba's lobbed effort took a deflection off Australia full-back Aziz Behich and also the crossbar to bounce inches over the goal-line, which was confirmed through goal-line technology, to ensure France open their tournament with three points. 

Despite being obvious underdogs, Australia performed very well and far above expectations. Not just their difficult group was a tough task for the Aussies, but November brought the resignation of Ange Postecoglou, who said the job had taken its toll on him both "personally and professionally", leaving his successor Van Marwijk a limited time to prepare. 

In their four friendlies before their tournament, Australia looked well worthy of earning a creditable draw against the giants of France. With Huddersfield's Mooy marshalling midfield alongside Jedinak, they were compact and well organised.

Standout player Aaron Mooy's quality deliveries also offered encouragement in attack, and his freekick tested France goalkeeper Lloris,who saved well when Corentin Tolisso flicked towards his own goal. 

While Australia have managed only two victories in their 14 fixtures at the World Cup, their ability to go toe to toe against France, who have amazing quality and depth, they definitely showed enough promise to test this group. Going into the game against Denmark, on Thursday, they can hold their heads high and play with optimism.