Munich (Germany) (AFP)

We were waiting for the fire attack, we had the right to the iron defense!

Solidarity at all levels, the French put back their clothes of world champions to triumph over Germany (1-0) at the start of the Euro.

"Collective defense is a strength for us, that's what we must rely on to succeed in a great competition, we had done it in 2018," noted Raphaël Varane after the meeting.

Expected for their offensive creativity, Karim Benzema, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé first and foremost shone by their altruism in the defensive withdrawal, hampering the German raises or sprinting to recover their lost balls.

The image of Mbappé returned like a racing car to make up for his mistake, from the 13th minute, set the tone for a high-flying evening, in addition to giving depth to the comments made on Sunday by the Parisian in front of the press: "I know that I am not the most irreproachable defensively, I try to improve myself on a daily basis ".

"We know the qualities there are in front and how to put other teams in difficulty. But we know that those who are in front are also able to do the defensive work where we are not used to seeing them. They do it. very, very good, that's a plus for us, "greeted the Manchester United midfielder.

- Defensive midfielders -

The evening was not, however, perfect on all fronts and Didier Deschamps thus mentioned the progress to be made in the offensive animation.

Because if Benzema has combined a lot with Mbappé, Griezmann for example provided only one pass to the first and three to the second for 90 minutes, according to statistics provided by UEFA.

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But the intense physical combat proposed by the Germans forced the French attack stars to more thankless tasks.

"The three, I do not want to dissociate them from the other seven. They have made themselves available to the collective to allow us to defend very well," said the coach.

This first curtain offered a welcome addition to the midfield triangle formed by Adrien Rabiot, N'Golo Kanté and Pogba.

They too were mainly used to contain the German waves, more than to project themselves forward.

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These players usually excel at "coming out, projecting themselves, with a lot of volume and complementarity", but on Tuesday they did it "more in the defensive field", which allowed "the team to have a good balance ", according to Deschamps.

- Balance according to Lloris -

Last reason for satisfaction, and not the least: the French defense, little endangered during the preparation, immediately rose to the required level.

A good omen before the second match scheduled for Saturday (3:00 p.m.) against Hungary in Budapest, where the Blues will already be able to validate their ticket for the eighth.

The central hinge with Varane and Presnel Kimpembe, recently formed, succeeded in entering the contest on Tuesday, limiting Germany to a single shot on target throughout the game.

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"There is a complementarity and automatisms between them and, with Benjamin Pavard on one side and Lucas Hernandez on the other, it is + understandable + very well", rejoiced Deschamps, very happy to have found his square. of ace ahead of the indebted goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

As a wise captain, the goalkeeper from Tottenham had hammered that the success of the Blues during the Euro would pass through "the balance" between the different lines.

Asked again about the French attacking trio, he preferred to broaden his point: "We know that they are capable of making big differences, but what we are looking for above all is to be well balanced on the field and try to control the game as well as possible ".

Against Germany, one of the two fiercest rivals in Group F, Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry and Kai Havertz have paid the price.

And their coach Joachim Löw has commented on this observation: "France is also world champion in defense."

© 2021 AFP