France have been one of the few bigger teams in the World Cup that hasn’t disappointed at all so far; particular in their 5-2 decimation of the skilful Switzerland in their last fixture. In this game though, France faced a side that bore the best characteristics of both the teams France had faced previously: Ecuador have the physicality of Honduras but can play football as well as Switzerland can so this game would be a test for the French. Given their healthy position in the standings though, Deschamps made six changes; read on to see how his French side got on in this fixture!
Ecuador were playing a 4-5-1 in this fixture with Enner Valencia playing on his own up front, perhaps with the purpose of outnumbering France in midfield, trying to stifle their quick play. As with France’s fixture against Honduras, most of the better play by the French started on the flanks; Digne, Matuidi and Greizmann in particular were frequently finding space for each other down the left flank. Ecuador’s needed to adapt their tactics early in the game as Switzerland had gone ahead in the other game in this group meaning that, if Honduras didn’t equalise, Ecuador would need to beat the French in order to salvage any hopes of qualification; playing a 4-5-1 made creating scoring chances difficult. It had been a pretty tame start to the game though; the French were definitely in control but weren’t creating clear-cut chances whereas when Ecuador were in possession they struggled to find Enner Valencia in decent positions.
As the game ticked closer towards the half-hour mark, it became a much more end-to-end encounter. Ecuador had a few dangerous runs towards the French goal but none came off; similarly, Benzema was coming into the game much more than previously. Ecuador had done a very good job at containing him, and continued to do an adequate job but the Real Madrid forward was slowly playing more and more of a role in the French attacks. Pogba and Enner Valencia came closest for their respective sides towards the end of the first half as Pogba headed a corner back across goal, forcing a dramatic save from Dominguez whereas Enner Valencia made a good chance for himself after a Ronaldo-esque leap to meet a very high cross but Lloris was equal to it.
All-in-all it was a pretty dire first half which France controlled for the most-part. One would have expected the game to change after half-time as Ecuador needed to force the issue if they were to have any hope of staying in the competition. Although if they went for a more attacking approach then it would open the door for France’s midfield to take more control on the match. Either way, something had to be done to liven this match up.
France were almost ahead less than a minute into the restart; more great work down the flanks by the Europeans saw Sagna whip in a very inviting ball towards the onrushing Greizmann who rose well to head at goal but Dominguez met the winger’s effort with the palm of his hand before tipping the ball onto the bar before the defence cleared. Ecuador’s qualification hopes then looked to be in tatters as their captain Antonio Valencia was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Lucas Digne; the United winger went in with two feet and studs showing and deserved to be sent-off.
Just as everyone thought the Ecuadorians were dead and buried though, they squandered a great counter-attacking opportunity. Valencia powered his way past Morgan Schneiderlin in midfield and had options left and right; Valencia went right, feeding Noboa who set himself up for the shot but sent a pretty tame effort well wide of the goal; too good an opportunity to turn down when you’re a man light.
Ecuador looked no worse after the sending off than they did prior to it; France were expected to take the game by the scruff of the neck after gaining such a big advantage but in the following 15 minutes or so at least, they didn’t manage to make that advantage count. Pogba had a glorious chance for the French after 70 minutes. More good play down the flanks led to the French winning a corner which Greizmann played short to Sagna before taking the ball back and feeding Sissoko on the edge of the box. The Newcastle man then dinked a very inviting cross towards the far post where Pogba had rose above the defence but couldn’t divert his effort into the net.
Neither side looked anything like capable of winning this game as France in particular were creating pretty decent half-chances very frequently but the final ball was always lacking for them and the Ecuadorians held on; Switzerland were 3-0 ahead in the other game by this point though therefore the result of this game was a bit of a non-factor. Ecuador were making a meal of getting one good goal-scoring chance, never mind the four they would need to pass Switzerland into second place. Ecuador were doing themselves credit in most departments with 10 men but the finishing department wasn’t one of them! France, as a result, went through after finishing top of the group and will face Nigeria in the next round. Ecuador are out but have won a lot of fans with their performances in this tournament, I think you’d agree. Check in with here at Fortitude to see how France and Switzerland do in the next round.