WC Qualification Europe Group Play-Offs - France vs Ukraine
Match date: Thursday 19th November, 2013
Match date: Thursday 19th November, 2013
Kick Off Time: 20:00 UK (BST) - 01:30 (IST) - 8:00 PM GMT
Venue: Stade De France, Paris, France
Venue: Stade De France, Paris, France
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
But this is certainly a lot easier said than done, especially if they
do not improve their game in the middle of the field, since they were
defeated against a much more physically prepared Ukrainians four days
ago. In addition, they have showed a lot of weaknesses in the second
half the last line, which has resulted with two received goals and the
suspension of Koscielny in the injury time. As for the attack, things
have not clearly functioned there the way their coach Deschamps wanted,
but he still trusts in the fact that they have performed a lot better at
home than on the side so he firmly believes that they can now catch up
with these two goals differences.
Of course, we expect a much more
offensive game from the French now than in Kiev, which means that they
will create a lot of room for quick counter-attacks of their guests, so
they still need to be extremely careful and disciplined in the last
line. This is why it is expected that the stoppers duo will this time
consist of young Varane and Sakho instead of the suspended Koscielny and
somewhat insecure Abidal, while there might be a few changes in the top
of the attack as well, so that Benzema could get an advantage over
Giroud.
As for the Ukrainians, they are much more relaxed before this rematch in
Paris, considering that they have taken advantage of playing at home
four days ago and came to the great victory of 2-0. Otherwise, they have
very cleverly played in this game, because they first of all stopped
the two most dangerous French players Nasri and Ribery, and then
patiently waited for their chance in the rest of the match. This
happened in the 61st minute when Zozulya scored one goal, while they
also used the penalty in the finish of the match through their best
player Yarmolenko, who brought Ukraine only one step away from the
placement in Brazil.
However, they are very well aware that they are about to experience a
very tough 90 minutes in Paris, primarily because the hosts will move
aggressively from the first minute towards the goal of the goalkeeper
Pyatov. However, this will also be a great opportunity for their
fleet-footed wingers Yarmolenko and Konoplyanka and young striker
Zozulya to score once again, and thus definitely extinguish all French
hopes of qualifying in the World Cup. On the other hand, the last line
of the Ukraine will this time be in a lot more trouble, because they are
their suspended Kucher will not be able to perform in this match.
Possible line-ups:
France: Lloris – Debuchy, Varane, Sakho, Evra – Matuidi, Pogba – Remy, Nasri, Ribery – Benzema.
Ukraine: Pyatov – Fedetsky, Rakitsky, Khacheridi, Shevchuk – Stepanenko, Rotan – Yarmolenko, Edmar, Konoplyanka – Zozulya.
