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France and the Netherlands played out a scoreless draw in their group game of the Euro 2024 tournament in Leipzig on Friday night.
France captain Kylian Mbappe was sourly missed as he sat out this one due to injury. But that did not stop the marauding French attack from unsettling the Dutch defence.
Bayer Leverkusen man Jeremie Frimpong wasted a glorious chance to put the Netherlands ahead inside the first minute.
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Few moments later, France captain on the night and Atlético Madrid’s all-time leading scorer Antoine Griemann’s shot stung the right palm of Bart Verbruggen who made a great save.
In an unbelievable circumstance, Adrien Rabiot and Griezmann failed to connect to convert a golden opportunity. Rabiot, who initially looked offside, had only one job – to bury the ball in the net – but stretched to pass to a falling Griezmann who could not also get a decisive touch as the Dutch backline dealt with the threat.
Again, France came close when N’Golo Kanté set up Griezmann in the box but the latter’s left-footed effort went wide. Minutes later Marcus Thuram blasted a shot wide when put through on goal.
Fans met Mbappe’s entry onto the pitch at the start of the second half with a loud ovation as the new Real Madrid man waved.
Thuram and Aurelien Tchouameni had chances either side of the hour mark to break the deadlock but failed to score.
As Les Bleus continued to search for the opener, Giezmann was the culprit again, fumbling when left with only Verbruggen to beat.
With more chances missed, manager Didier Deschamps could not hide his frustration, evidently unhappy with his side’s profligacy.
The Dutch team thought they found a breakthrough when Xavi Simons struck a fierce shot which sailed into the net. However, the goal was overturned after a long VAR check.
As the game approached the final ten minutes, both sides introduced “classic centre forwards” Olivier Giroud and Wout Werghorst. However, neither side was able to find that goal that would have proven to be opener, and probably the winner.
Both sides are now on four points each ahead of their final group D games in the Euro 2024 Championship.
Tags: Antoine Griezman, Euro 2024, #Euros, France, Netherlands, Kylian Mbappe, N’Golo Kante, Virgil Van Dijk, Xavi Simmons, #Euro2024, Wout Werghorst
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