France target a better showing against Peru

by Graeme Jackson

Wednesday Jun 20, 2018. 12:00

France will be looking for an improved performance when they take on Peru in their second Group C match at the 2018 World Cup. The teams will meet at Central Stadium in Yekaterinburg on Thursday, June 21, kick-off at 17h00.

France opened their campaign in Russia with a 2-1 win over Australia on Saturday in Kazan. Though the three points are all that really matter, ‘Les Bleus’ still underwhelmed against the ‘Socceroos’, only claiming the win thanks to an Antoine Griezmann penalty – which was somewhat controversially awarded via VAR – and a late, lucky Paul Pogba goal.

Coach Didier Deschamps will look for more from his star-studded side, particularly Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Griezmann, while the temptation to play striker Olivier Giroud – who so clearly gives them a powerful focal point in attack – will also come into consideration.

Peru effectively had the opposite beginning to their World Cup: they put in a strong performance against Denmark but were unlucky to lose 1-0 in Saransk. The ‘Danish Dynamite’ scored through Yussuf Poulsen in their only real clear chance.

The South Americans created plenty of good scoring opportunities – including a penalty from Christian Cueva – but either failed to finish off or were denied by an excellent goalkeeping performance from Kasper Schmeichel.

Coach Ricardo Gareca was rightly proud of the performances of ‘Los Incas’, who must have some of the most passionate fans at the tournament, but he’ll need more from his players when they come up against France, particularly attackers such as Jefferson Farfan and Paolo Guerrero

In head-to-head terms, France and Peru have met in just one previous match, a friendly in Paris in 1982 which ended 1-0 in favour of the South American team.

France v Peru – head-to-head

Matches played 1

France wins 0
Peru wins 1
Draws 0
France goals 0
Peru goals 1