Wed, Sep 08 10 03:37 AM
Two late goals helped France recover from a woeful start to Euro 2012 qualifying with a 2-0 win in Bosnia on Tuesday.
Les Bleus, on the receiving end of a shock 1-0 home defeat by Belarus on Friday, went in front with a magical goal from Karim Benzema in the 72nd minute.
The striker collected the ball with his back to goal, rolled it with the sole of his boot and turned swiftly to squeeze past two defenders before scoring with an angled, left-foot shot.
Winger Florent Malouda made it 2-0 after 78 minutes, giving much-needed hope to new coach Laurent Blanc who is trying to rebuild the team after their poor World Cup showing in June.
Malouda was then substituted by Blaise Matuidi with 10 minutes to go, allowing the St Etienne midfielder to win his first cap.
Bosnia, who beat Luxembourg 3-0 on Friday, could face sanctions after a flare landed on the pitch nine minutes from time.
Captain Emir Spahic picked up a microphone to ask the fans to calm down and the game resumed after a short break.
Bosnia rarely threatened but came close to scoring on 65 minutes when a superb free kick from midfielder Miralem Pjanic was well saved by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Benzema, 22, back in the team after being overlooked for the World Cup in South Africa, showed his class throughout and nearly made it 3-0 with a superb volley that went just wide in added time.
Source: Published>
0 comments:
Post a Comment