Amsterdam (AFP)
Homecoming in a mess! As at Euro-2020, the Blues have inherited big displacements for the second edition of the League of Nations disputed next fall: with Portugal and Croatia on the program, the draw made Tuesday in Amsterdam promises posters at taste of revenge.
Difficult for the Blues to project further than June 16, the date of their entry into the running for the Euro against Germany in Munich, in a group F of all dangers with also the Portuguese as adversaries ...
But Didier Deschamps was forced to resolve it Tuesday evening in the Dutch capital, with this draw for the League of Nations carried out ... six months before the start of this essentially honorary tournament, which will stretch until June 2021.
"Given the field, we knew there would be big opponents," said the coach. "This competition is made for that too, it replaces the friendly matches that were not very interesting. We will have beautiful matches in the fall, a competition with goals, even if to not hide anything, it is not totally in my brain at the moment. "
- Remakes -
As in the final of Euro-2016 at the Stade de France (1-0 defeat after extra time), and as in next June in Budapest at the Euro, his men will cross the road to the Seleçao in the fall.
Cristiano Ronaldo and his partners have certainly experienced great difficulties in qualifying for European competition, but they will remain as the first reference in the league table of Nations: at home last June, the players of Fernando Santos had won the first honorary trophy of this new competition by beating in the final the Netherlands (1-0).
One of the scarecrows in the N.4 hat of the draw, the Croatian vice-world champions, also make an appointment with the Blues.
A year and a half after the World Cup final, won 4-2 by the French, Blues and Croats are on similar trajectories: both have only slightly trembled in their qualifications for the Euro, and have suffered before that a little backlash during the first edition of the League of Nations, the Blues falling against the Netherlands, the Croats against Spain and England.
"This is not revenge for the World Cup, because it is a different competition. But it remains a difficult match," calmed the Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic.
However, it may not be necessary to wait until the fall to see a remake of the Moscow final: several media outlines well-advanced discussions for the organization of a preparation match for the Euro in early June between the France and Croatia.
- A minimal stake -
Finally, the Blues inherit from Sweden, qualified for Euro-2020 without too many worries, and which remains on a victory against the French (2-1) in qualification for the last World Cup, in Stockholm in 2017.
The four cadors will compete in round-trip matches between September and November.
Beautiful posters, but little at stake, apart from the honorary title of winner of the competition awarded in June 2021, at the end of a final phase of four. Only a first group place will offer the Blues their ticket for this "Final Four", while in the event of a disappointing 4th place, it will be necessary to play in the second division, Ligue B, during the third edition (2022-2023).
Small precision that adds a little salt to the competition: in the event of a catastrophic course in qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, the Blues could, in case of good results in the League of Nations and depending on the performance of other nations, be offered a second chance to see Qatar by being drafted and then returned to the dams in the Europe zone.
The draw, organized in the wake of the ordinary UEFA Congress, could not escape the questions concerning the intensification of the coronavirus epidemic. Thus, the delegations of the selections were minimalist, some even deciding not to send their selector on the spot, like that of Scotland Steve Clarke, who plays at the end of the month a barrage of qualification for the Euro.
© 2020 AFP