Pain in Parisian rain for Republic as slick French dish out lesson
OLIVIER Giroud and Nabil Fekir staked their claims for France’s World Cup opener as they struck to condemn the Republic of Ireland to a 2-0 friendly defeat amid a torrential Parisian downpour.
Chelsea frontman Giroud scored from close range, and then keeper Colin Doyle’s howler handed Fekir a second before the half-time whistle sounded on a night when Didier Deschamps’ Russia-bound side turned in a slick display.
They face Italy and the USA before they open their campaign against Australia in Kazan on June 16, and they may hope for tougher tests with the Republic offering the physicality for which Deschamps chose them — both James McClean and Harry Arter were booked for rash challenges — but little else.
The Republic were very nearly undone within three minutes of the kick-off when Djibril Sidibe dispossessed McClean inside his own half and fed Mbappe, whose side-footed effort curled just wide of Doyle’s far post.
The keeper was called upon for the first time when fit-again full-back Benjamin Mendy surged into space on the left and unleashed a fierce strike which the keeper parried firmly away with the home side attacking in waves.
But it was far from the last and he had to save at his near post from Mbappe before Giroud glanced a header wide, and the woodwork came to his rescue seven minutes later when Corentin Tolisso swept a shot against the upright from Sidibe’s cross.
However, Doyle’s luck ran out when, after he had managed to repel Giroud’s 40th-minute header from a Fekir corner, the strik- FRANCE: Mandanda, Sidibe (Pavard, 82mins), Rami, Umtiti (Kimpembe, 64mins), Mendy (Hernandez, 64mins), N’Zonzi, Tolisso (Pogba, 77mins), Matuidi, Fekir (Griezmann, 64mins), Mbappe (Dembele, 77mins), Giroud. Unused subs: Lloris, Lemar, Kante, Thauvin, Areola
IRELAND: Doyle, Coleman, Duffy, K Long (S Williams, 80mins), D Williams (Doherty, 82mins), Walters (Meyler, 59mins), Browne (Arter, 59mins), Rice, O’Dowda (Burke, 70mins), McClean, S Long (Judge, 70mins). Unused subs: Cunningham, Egan, Lenihan, Horgan, O’Malley, Stevens, Supple
Man of the match: Giroud
Match rating: 7/10
Referee: Georgi Kabakov
er’s follow-up appeared to cross the line before Seamus Coleman blocked it, and he made sure by stabbing home at the third time of asking.
Doyle’s night took a turn for the worse within four minutes when he managed to get a hand to Fekir’s shot, but could only help it into his own net.
Shane Long sent an injury-time header well over, the Republic’s only first-half attempt of note.
Midfielder Alan Browne was relieved to see his attempted clearance sail over, rather than under his own crossbar with France pressing relentlessly, and Doyle needed two attempts to collect Matuidi’s 61st-minute diving header.
Pogba and Griezmann were both introduced as late substitutes, as was Shamrock Rovers striker Graham Burke, a debutant along with Derrick Williams and Shaun Williams, although there was not much else notable about Ireland’s evening at the Stade de France.
AT the Euro 2016 finals in France, young part-timer Paul Smyth did something in a matter of seconds that footballing superstars Robert Lewandowski, Andriy Yarmolenko and Gareth Bale failed to achieve in 270 minutes of international football against Northern Ireland’s Jonny Evans.
Evans was one of the stars of the tournament with his impeccable defending leaving his star-studded opponents frustrated and deflated as Northern Ireland created history by reaching the knock-out stages of the finals.
But a raw 18-year-old, just a slight figure of a lad from west Belfast who was playing Irish League football with Linfield, left Evans flat footed and beaten during a training ground session.
Smyth, along with Glenavon’s Joel Cooper, was invited by manager Michael O’Neill to France to make up the numbers during squad training sessions.
However, rather than just blend into the background, Smyth left a lasting impression on the former Manchester United ace, who has never forgotten his name.
Evans recalled: “I remember Paul Smyth coming to train with us at the Euros. He wasn’t in the squad, just there to train with us, and I thought his training was outstanding.
I’d just gone into the left-back spot and we were warming up to play against Ukraine and we were doing a bit of team shape. I was playing left-back that night against Ukraine.
“Paul was on the right wing and I hadn’t really seen much of him at that point. He had the ball, I went to close him down, he’s put the ball past me down and the line and he has just taken off. He caught me by surprise and I was like, ‘Who is this kid?’
“I’ll never forgetthatmoment — I thought, ‘This boy has something’. “He has that pace off the mark because he is so light. He was jinking around, but after that I made sure that never happened again,” smiled Evans.
Two years on from that moment in Saint-Georges-deReneins, Smyth (left) has just finished his first season of professional football with QPR, marked his senior international debut in March with a stunning goal against South Korea and is on this tour of Central America with Evans, who will captain Northern Ireland against Panama in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“Paul’s gone over to QPR and people were probably thinking, ‘Is it a good move, is it not?’