Paris (AFP)
It's time for the big leap for the 1998 generation: the France Espoirs team starts its qualifying campaign for Euro-2021 on Thursday (21.00) in Calais against Azerbaijan, with two victories in early friendly September against Albania (4-0) and the Czech Republic (3-1).
Four months after the convincing race of Moussa Dembélé's generation at the 2019 edition, which ended in a semifinal and a qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, a new adventure is set for the new wave of players French nationals born after 1 January 1998, in accordance with UEFA regulations.
"We will have to, and this will be the goal, to get into this qualifying campaign because we put the counters at zero.This will necessarily go through matches that will be successful," warned Monday the French coach Sylvain Ripoll in a press conference.
"Against Azerbaijan, it will not be easy, I hope we will not underestimate the opponent and that we will win," added the lateral Sofiane Alakouch, one of the new faces in Blueberries.
For that, the teammates of Mattéo Guendouzi will be able to count on their scorer Odsonne Edouard, in very great form like the two doubles in the last two friendlies against the Czech Republic (3-1) and Albania (4 -0) last month.
After receiving Azerbaijan in Calais, the Blueberries will travel to Slovakia on Tuesday for their second qualifying match.
Program of the France Espoirs team:
Thursday (9pm)
France - Azerbaijan, in Calais
Tuesday, October 15 (9 pm)
Slovakia - France, in Dunajská Streda
© 2019 AFP