France win first opening World Cup match in 16 years

   France and Honduras squared off in the second World Cup game of Group E this afternoon 15/06/14 in Porto Alegre with the Europeans looking to win an opening match for the first time since they hosted and won the tournament in 1998 and the Central Americans looking to get their first win ever at a World Cup after failing to do so in their two previous appearances in 1982 and 2010. The two other CONCACAF teams which featured this weekend – Mexico and Costa Rica had already picked up wins, so it was left to the Hondurans to continue making the region proud. Naturally it was the French who started as favorites. In the 6^th minute a curled ball into the Honduran box was half cleared. It dropped to Griezmann whose shot was blocked and the Hondurans survived the danger. In the 7^th minute Evra was booked by the Brazilian referee after a challenge on Najar. In the 15^th minute the French almost took the lead as a Valbuena freekick fed into the Honduran box was half-cleared and Matuidi fired in a shot which the Honduran ‘keeper managed to tip over despite it hitting his crossbar.

    It was the French who dominated the possession and looked to get the better opportunities to score. In the 22^nd minute Cabaye had a chance but fired just wide. A minute later Griezmann hit the Honduran bar and the Central Americans escaped again. In the 28^th minute both Pogba of France and Palacios of Honduras were booked after an altercation. In the 36^th  a nice build up play from the French was blocked but the Europeans won a corner. It was wasted however and the Hondurans survived once more. In the 41^st the French won another corner but in the resulting play, Pogba was brought down in the area and Palacios was sent off for his second yellow card. The French won a penalty. Karim Benzema stepped up to take the kick and made no mistake. It was his seventh goal in his last seven international appearances. France 1, Honduras 0 read the scoreboard. It was the first time the French had scored in a World Cup opening game since they beat South Africa 3-0 to open their account at the 1998 edition which they hosted and won. The halftime break arrived with the Europeans in front.

    At the start of the second half a quick French attack resulted in a shot from Benzema which barely crossed the line. Even though the Honduran goalie Valladares appeared to save it, goal-line technology confirmed that it was in fact an own goal conceded by him. It was now France 2, Honduras 0. In the 58^th minute Honduras brought on Claros to replace Najar in an attempt to turn their fortunes around. The French were now in the driver’s seat so the Hondurans had to try everything if they wanted to salvage something from the game. The French then made a substitution as Cabaye was replaced by Muvaba in the 65^th minute. In the 68^th minute Garcia found his way in the French penalty area but his relatively tame shot was easily gathered up by Lloris in the French goal. In the 73^rd the French won a free kick in the Honduran half, and after the initial shot from Debuchy was blocked, Benzema was there to knock in the rebound. The French were surely not going to lose from here. In the 78^th minute Deschamps brought on Giroud to replace Valbuena, with the French nearly over the finish line.

    In the 91^st minute a good build up from the French by Evra was wasted by Matuidi who couldn’t find the target. It didn’t matter though, for the game was safe and three crucial points for the French were secure. At the final whistle Les Bleus celebrated their first opening game win at a World Cup in sixteen years. For the Hondurans, it was case of another World Cup game in which they failed to score.