France and Netherlands drew 0-0

France and the Netherlands shared the points in the Group D clash at the European Football Championship on Friday evening. The two teams drew goalless in Leipzig and are now on four points after two games. Austria is one point behind after a well-deserved 3:1 win against pointless and already eliminated Poland. Things are looking good for the trio in the race for promotion as the four best third-placed teams will also advance to the round of 16.

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On Tuesday (6 p.m.) the ÖFB selection will face the “Oranjes” in Berlin, while the French will face Poland in Dortmund. It remains to be seen whether Kylian Mbappe will be back in the game. The superstar watched the game against the Dutch from the bench and did not even warm up after breaking his nose in the 1-0 win against Austria on Monday. It was the first goalless match in the final round, which has been full of goals so far. Since France’s goal in the opening game resulted from an own goal by Maximilian Wöber, they have not scored a goal of their own.

Griezmann replaced Mbappe as captain

Both teams decided not to rotate their starting line-up after their opening victories, and the starting eleven only changed in one position. The French team brought in the recovered Aurelien Tchouameni instead of Mbappe, but he played the position in central defensive midfield. The attacking line up was formed by Ousmane Dembele, Marcus Thuram and Antoine Griezmann, who was the captain.

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Jeremie Frimpong was allowed to try his hand on the right wing for the Dutch team. Xavi Simons moved back a step and Joey Veerman was only a substitute. Wout Weghorst, who scored the winning goal as a “sub” in the 2-1 win against Poland, was also on the bench. Frimpong was immediately in the spotlight, but was stopped by Mike Maignan after 57 seconds. It was the start of a very fast first half hour in which an equalizer was in the air several times, especially on the French side. Griezmann tested Bart Verbruggen with a shot (4th).

Rabiot wasted his biggest chance

Ten minutes later, Adrien Rabiot should have scored from a great position, but his pass to Griezmann was a little inaccurate, and he stumbled. In the same minute, the Atletico Madrid player was close to scoring from around eleven meters. While on the other side Maignan had to be on the spot again to stop a Gakpo shot (16th minute), it was France’s Thuram who put the ball over the bar from a tight angle (28th minute).

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As a result, the fans were the only negative factor before the break. A Dutch fan threw a cup that almost hit Griezmann before a corner was taken (41′). Even after the break, it took a while for the game to pick up speed. The “Equipe Tricolore” seemed much more interested in forcing the win and from the 60th minute onwards had a clear advantage in terms of chances. Things got dangerous almost every minute, but as against Austria, they lacked efficiency.

Netherlands goal disallowed

Thuram (60th), Tchouameni (63rd), Griezmann (65th), who failed miserably after a beautifully played move, and Dembele (68th) missed. The Dutch celebrated the opening goal almost out of nowhere, but only for a very short time. A goal by Xavi Simons (69th) was taken back after a lengthy VAR study because Denzel Dumfries may have obstructed goalie Maignan in an offside position. A controversial situation to say the least. The 2018 world champions were also closer to scoring the winning goal in the finish, but did not manage it.

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This could also be due to the absence of Mbappe, who has scored five times in six matches against the Dutch, including four in the two most recent duels in the European Championship qualifiers. The point win was a rare success for the Dutch, as they had previously lost seven of the eight most recent meetings. It also brought an end to a goal-scoring streak, with them having scored in every one of their 14 international matches.

Table and schedule