Saint-Denis (AFP)

The spotlight on him, Wednesday in Saint-Denis, Marcus Thuram burst the screen for his first selection with the Blues, twelve years after the last of his father Lilian, but the striker was stung by the stars. unexpected Finns and their cold realism (0-2).

In recent days, the convocation of the left winger of Mönchengladbach in Germany has fed the gazettes, eager to tell the first impressions left in the French team by the "son of" Thuram, the most capped of the French selection (142 capes) .

From press conference to press conference, Didier Deschamps did not shy away from references to his friend "Tutu", world champion in 1998 and European champion in 2000 with him.

But, each time, the coach has continued to praise the qualities of "Tikus".

"When one is + son of + it necessarily comes back in a loop", but "if he is there it is only by his merits. + Son of + is not a selection criterion", recalled the boss of the world champions .

Not intimidated by the event, nor by the praise made by the coach, Marcus (23) showed on the lawn of the Stade de France the range of his talents: overflows on the left flank of the attack, incursions both powerful and subtle in the opponent's area and some significant defensive folds.

"He likes him when there is adrenaline, the world, the wait, the pressure. I do not think it is a concern for him", had prophesied Deschamps this week about an attacker "to comfortable, relaxed ".

His fine deviation for Paul Pogba after thirty seconds of play, under the pressure of an opponent, indeed showed from the outset that Marcus was not the type to gamble.

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The twenty-five minutes that followed showed that it was only an appetizer.

Omnipresent, the former Guingamp player tried to combine with Olivier Giroud (8th, 15th) or Wissam Ben Yedder (20th).

But above all he offered himself many opportunities, the most frank being pushed back by the crossbar (15th) after a nice extension to place a header from a corner.

Deschamps was right to point out his "ability to create differences, with a lot of power", but the coach may regret his lack of efficiency in Saint-Denis.

In the deserted lair of the world champions, the N.22 tried his luck unsuccessfully on an instantaneous recovery from six meters (17th) and on two strikes at the entrance to the surface, not on target (23rd) then captured (70th).

With his back to goal, he tried to take the ball to the pivoting cage (35th) and saw his shot blocked after a series of dribbles (45th + 1).

But where the most active French attacker has wasted his ammunition, the Finns have shown insolent success.

And it's another Marcus, called Forss, who stole the show by sending a missile into the skylight of Steve Mandanda (28th, 1-0).

Onni Valakari, also author of his first selection with the "Grand Dukes", punished three minutes later the Marseille goalkeeper with a shot wound to perfection (31st).

In this blue doldrums, Thuram survived without demerit until the final whistle, but without concretizing his good intentions.

Marcus will now have to persevere to hang on to the Blues and not relive the experience of his club teammate Alassane Pléa, whose selection counter has remained blocked since his first and last in November 2018.

© 2020 AFP