Bosnia 0-2 vs. France: Benzema & Malouda give France Reason to Rejoice After 0-1 Loss to Belarus
Second Half:
After the first half of the Euro 2012 qualifying match between Bosnia & Herzegovina and France, which ended as a 0-0 draw, both the teams entered the ground in the second half with more aggressive mindsets. Without a doubt, the first five minutes of the second half belonged to Bosnia as they kept most of the possession and heavily attacked the French side. Despite creating some chances, Bosnian players were unable to find the net. Meanwhile, it was also a good defensive display from the French players.
In reply to that, French midfielder Abou Diaby managed to provide a superb through pass to Benzema, but it went all in vain because the Real Madrid man was not able to hold on to that pass. But after the 50-minute mark, it was all France. They were in more attacking intent. Les Blues managed to keep the ball in the Bosnian half of the pitch.
However, a heading chance was missed by Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby. It was a superb cross from Chelsea man Florent Malouda, and Abou Diaby had contact with the ball but wasn’t able to put inside the bars. After that, Bosnia won a free-kick in the French half. Bosnian player Pjanic tried the shot from 35-yards from the goal, and indeed it was a really good effort, as French number one Hugo Lloris had to dive to stop that long range shot.
Meanwhile, Bosnia started to constantly attack the Les Bleus. The Bosnian players were getting full support from their fans. At this point, football was being played with a very attacking mindset. Florent Malouda was almost able to create the chance for the Real Madrid attacker, but Benzema wasn’t able to convert it.
After a series of attacks from both the sides, it was the French who clinched the chance in the 72nd minute and converted it into a goal: all thanks to Karim Benzema for his stylish goal after a wonderful low cross from Gael Clichy, which finally put smiles on the faces of all the French fans after France’s disastrous 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign and even the last shocking 0-1 defeat to Belarus.
A defensive error cost the Bosnian side another goal and it was again Benzema who created the goal-scoring chance for Malouda. Valbuena and Abou Diaby teamed up to keep the Bosnian defence at bay, and Benzema easily broke the offside trap and assisted Malouda for the second French strike. At the last few minutes, an unusual event took place when a firecracker was thrown on the pitch and went off near Roma defender Mexes. The game was stopped for a while and the Bosnian captain was asked to request to his crowd not to repeat such an act again.
Even in the last minutes, when Malouda was substituted, France created a few more chances. It was again Benzema one-on-one with the keeper. He got a volley but didn’t manage to put a great strike and in the end got the corner for the French team.
The match ended 2-0 in favour of France. A crucial win for the French team indeed; they were desperate for such a win after the horrifying World Cup campaign, where they crashed out alongside the other 2006 World Cup finalists Italy in the group stages. Fans should celebrate a superb return to form of Karim Benzema to the French national side. Manager Laurent Blanc will also have something to smile about: this is the first win for him after taking on the post of national team manager.
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