World Cup 2014 | ||
France |
vs | Honduras |
ScheduleSunday, 15 June 2014 at 19:00 GMT / 20:00 UK / 00:30 IST VenueEstádio Beira-Rio (Porto Alegre) |
Next Sunday, France will take on Honduras at Estádio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre on what will be the second match of the day for Group E.
France arrived at the Brazil’s World Cup highly motivated after a smashing 8-0 victory over Jamaica last weekend. Les Bleus made a stand against the Reggae boyz after an unconvincing home draw with Paraguay almost two weeks ago.
France experienced some difficulties during the qualification group and were forced to play two playoff matches against Ukraine in order to grant their ticket to Brazil. After a 2-0 defeat on a cold Kiev night, the French rose for their ashes and left behind all the pundits, critics by winning the second leg match 3-0 at Saint-Denis.
Didier Deschamps was also the favourite target of the media criticism after leaving Samir Nasri out of the World Cup list, especially since the experienced midfielder had such a crucial role during the qualification round. The French team usually plays in a versatile 4-3-3 style with just one centre forward, usually backed up by a winger and an inside forward.
Apart from Grenier and Ribery, who were excluded from the 23-man list due to injury, Deschamps will have all his players at his disposal for the match against Los Catrachos.
As for Honduras, the match against France will mark the start of their second consecutive presence at a World Cup tournament after their humble stint at the 2010 South African competition.
Honduras are probably still enjoying their recent draw against England in Miami last weekend, although their recent performances have been far from brilliant. Los Catrachos suffered two consecutive defeats in just three days before meeting the Three Lions at Miami last weekend, first against Turkey and a few days later against Israel. Honduras were somewhat surprised by a well organized and fairly effective Israeli side and somehow exposed all their defensive frailties.
Honduras have an interesting set of players, led by the experienced midfielders Roger Espinoza and Wilson Palacios and by Jerry Bengston and Carlo Costly, although the team’s lack of consistency might cost them some upsets during the World Cup.
For the match against France, Honduras’ manager, Luis Fernando Suárez, will quite probably have all his players at his disposal, since there aren’t any names on the injury list.
France are obviously firm favourites for next Sunday’s match, although if they fail to score an early goal things might get slightly more complicated for them as they would have to stand with the Honduran side's more physical approach, something that might cost them the three points.
Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1
Recent Form - WDWWW
Stats: W-1 L-2 D-2
Recent Form - DLLWD
France (4-3-3) - Loris - Debuchy - Sahko - Mangala - Evra - Cabaye - Matuidi - Pogba - Griezmann - Valbuena - Benzema
Honduras (4-5-1) -Valladares, Beckeles, Figueroa, Bernardez, Izaguirre, Espinoza, Wilson Palacios, Garrido, Marvin Chavez, Costly, Bengtson
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