ECQ: France start as they mean to go on
France 4 - 0 Netherlands
Kylian Mbappe scored his first goals as France captain. The World Cup finalists began their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a fine win against the Netherlands.
France were ahead after just two minutes when Antoine Griezmann curled in from Mbappe's pass. Defender Dayot Upamecano made it 2-0 six minutes later as he bundled in.
Mbappe then scored again for France when he drove in, before powering home his second late on. Griezmann had reportedly been unhappy at being overlooked for the captaincy role given to Mbappe, but there were no signs of friction between the pair as they celebrated Mbappe's first of the night in the 21st minute. There is a lot of positive team spirit amongst these players.
We can also see that they have recovered from the heartbreak of losing the World Cup Final. World Cup: Argentina triumph after classic final (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)
Kylian Mbappé has now scored more goals for France than Karim Benzema.
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 24, 2023
He's still only 24 years old ... 😳 pic.twitter.com/rq2m84r9Ou
The Paris St-Germain striker's second two minutes from time was a stunning solo effort as he left the Dutch players falling over in an attempt to block his shot before thumping a finish into the bottom corner.
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A terrible night for the away side
Memphis Depay had the chance of a consolation deep in stoppage time for the visitors, but his penalty was saved. That exact moment capped a frustrating first game for Ronald Koeman in his second spell as Netherlands boss.
Defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Sven Botman, forward Cody Gakpo, midfielder Joey Veerman and goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen had all contracted an illness before the match and they clearly missed them. Can Netherlands recover from this heavy defeat and go on to have a successful qualifying campaign.
The highlights from the match
You can watch the key moments in the video below. Did France deserve this comfortable win?
On those YouTube highlights, Jack Gower said: "Mbappe is incredible. At first, I thought he was just a rapid player, but he’s got it all. What an outstanding player."
Jerem added: "I don't think I've seen a squad that's as good before, and I've been watching Zidane's one as a French teenager in 98. But really, every player is a threat, even on the bench. It's scary! Mbappe's is leading the way and they all run with him towards that new era. And we still have some more, like Nkunkunku who had been on fire and will be coming back from his injury. I'm looking forward to seeing them play in the years to come. They're the source of such great emotions right now. That's the sport we love."
Mano is a French football fan who was very happy with the performance from the side: "Griezmann will not let himself be forgotten! I guarantee he will be the one to help win the WC and euros for France."
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The last time The Netherlands went 3-0 down within the first 21 minutes was in 1919. [@NOS] pic.twitter.com/543yBTnyeD
— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) March 24, 2023
Fans of the Netherlands were less happy with the result and performance, but they were still confident about qualifying for Euro 2024. Raymond added: "That was such a bad performance. However, there's still a lot of good players in this team."
