Munich (Germany) (AFP)
The Blues and their fiery attack start the Euro straight away with a summit, Tuesday (9:00 p.m.) in Munich in front of 14,000 spectators and a revengeful German team, also in the peloton of favorites counting to dethrone Portugal, the last scarecrow of the very group F statement.
Under other circumstances, the entry into the running of the reigning Portuguese European champion on Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Hungary, moreover in a packed stadium in Budapest, would have drawn the light.
But the meeting will quickly be overshadowed by the tantalizing France-Germany.
The boss of the Blues is wary of a Mannschaft in reconstruction, world champion in 2014 before being pitifully eliminated in the first round of the last World Cup won by the French.
- "Heads up" -
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer refuses to believe that a German victory would be a surprise: "We come with our heads held high, and we do not see ourselves as outsiders, we absolutely want to win this match in Munich, at home".
If the nightmarish memory of Seville-82 and Guadalajara-86 still sometimes haunts the collective spirit, the French have learned to dominate the German neighbor.
Since the quarter of the World Cup-2014 won 1-0 by the Mannschaft, the French have two draws and three victories, including that in the semi-final of Euro-2016 (2-0).
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Antoine Griezmann, tricolor hero that day with a double, will be operational for this particular reunion, after having treated in recent days a painful calf.
The attacking trio he forms with Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema, hit in a thigh last week but also recovered, carries French hopes.
What cause a lot of expectation before this "Franco-German summit", as the headline of the daily Le Parisien.
L'Equipe, for its part, underlines a "hot, immediately" duel, which "will not be the answer to everything" but will be "the beginning of everything" for the Blues.
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And in Germany, the daily Bild addresses the coach Joachim Löw, asking him "a new summer tale" after the World Cup-2014.
"+ Jogi +, show the world, for your last tournament, that you are still getting there," the newspaper exclaims.
The "summit" will also be that of reunion, between the French from Bayern Munich - Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez in the lead - and their German teammates in the club, whether Neuer, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich or even Thomas Müller, recalled by Löw after a long sidelining.
"In the club they are my friends, but the time of a match they will be my opponents. There will be no freebie," said Pavard, ready to face a hostile audience.
- Full stadium in Budapest -
In this cockfight, watch out for low blows!
German defender Antonio Rüdiger has raised the temperature calling on his teammates to play "dirty, not always nice, nice", even if it means "sending a message ... and early" in the match.
"In very high level matches, obviously, it's the technique that makes the difference, but there is always a total commitment of the two teams", dodged Deschamps who, in the event of a final victory on July 11 in London, would become the first to have made the World-Euro double as a player and then as a coach.
The French, supported by 2,000 to 2,500 supporters on Tuesday at the Allianz-Arena, must finish in the top two of Group F to be certain of reaching the knockout stages.
Third place can also be qualifying, depending on their performance.
The sesames will be anyway disputed in this "group of death" which also features the Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo, reigning European champion.
The defense of his throne begins with a trip to Hungary, without the defender Joao Cancelo positive for Covid-19 and facing the Magyars carried by their audience.
With its 68,000 seats, the Puskas Arena in Budapest is the only venue for the Euro, organized in 11 stadiums across 11 countries, not to apply a spectator gauge in these times of health crisis.
It will be the first international match with 100% spectators in Europe since March 2020, club meetings and selections combined, UEFA confirmed.
© 2021 AFP