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Imagine waiting for almost three decades to see your nation participate in the FIFA World Cup, and then watch them bow out of the event after just two games.
This is what the Peruvians must have been going through when the final time whistle blew as France had won the match courtesy of a first-half strike by Kylian Mbappe.
France were almost flawless in the first half, but their South American opposition showed some sheer determination and tenacity to push the game to the edges in the second half.
This was insufficient in the end, and France’s experience and class were clearly visible as they absorbed the numerous waves of pressure that Peru posed. Ricardo Gareca’s men were regularly in the look of an equaliser, but the French backline stuck to their positions and exuded calmness amidst the chaos.
Here, we analyze the three things that went wrong in this game for the Peruvians.
#1 Dropping the intensity after an electric start in the first half
The French midfielders aren’t someone who instantly get into the groove of the game. Blaise Matuidi has slowed down a tad bit, and Paul Pogba takes his own time to settle perfectly into the proceedings of the match.
Hence, Peru seemed to have identified this minor glitch and were absolutely threatening in the first quarter of the hour.
They relentlessly attacked and forced France to move backward in the game. Many thought that the inevitable were to happen, and a goal for Peru at that stage of the game would have been well deserved.
Surprisingly though, they dropped this energy as the first half of the game progressed and allowed Pogba to settle into the game.
Moreover, the Peruvian midfielders did not seem to follow the positional instructions too as Pogba was awarded way too many half-spaces near the penalty box.
The Manchester United midfielder used these spaces to find out the accurate passes, which eventually troubled Peru as Kylian Mbappe struck a goal that was initially created by Paul himself.
If Peru would have continued with the same level of pressing throughout the first half, they could have had much better opportunities to trouble France from an attacking perspective.
#2 Lack of composure in the final third
One who closely followed the match would understand that it was an even battle in the midfield in the second half. Peru came out of the dressing room with fresher ideas and subsequently more energy and dynamism.
They were insanely pressing the likes of Matuidi, Pavard and Lucas Hernandez to win the ball back in promising positions. The South American flair and creativity were quite visible in their style of play as Peru demonstrated some quick, one-touch passing to move the ball up on the field.
Whenever they won the ball back, they moved it around accurately before passing it near the box and that is where the players messed up. Whenever the Peruvians found themselves in good positions, they made the wrong decision, related to stuff like releasing the ball or shooting from the appropriate angle.
They managed to carve out openings in the midfield, and even found some unguarded spaces between the two opposition centre-halves Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti. However, their inability to make the correct pass, or shoot the ball at the right target when needed the most.
The players often ended up shooting the ball inches higher than required and passed the ball wider than needed.
To sum it up, even though Peru managed to show promise and talent in the middle, they had a tough time cracking the French backline due to their frustrating indecisiveness in front of the goal.
#3 Tactical and positional indiscipline
The fact that Peru were out there on the field to attack was very visible. After being lambasted for not even opening the scoring against Denmark despite being gifted a penalty kick, they rather decided to leave a lasting mark against the French national team.
In the initial minutes, they attacked with full strength and hence left a whole lot of space at the back for the opposition to counter.
With skillful players like Antoine Griezmann and Pogba through the centre, France decided to attack on the counter at any given opportunity. Peru committed a lot of players to attack even during set-pieces and this presented France with many chances to peg the South American team back.
For example, Pogba once released Mbappe on the left flank with a sumptuous through ball from the left flank, after which Mbappe passed it to Griezmann and it resulted in a threatening counter attacking scenario.
Moreover, this counter-attack started from a corner kick that was actually given to Peru. Such is the talent of the forwards and midfielders in that France lineup that the opposition cannot afford to give them any open space between the forward and the midfield lines.
In order to leave an offensive impression, they were unable to block the opposition’s efforts and France used this aspect against them in a thrilling first-half display.
Sure, Ricardo Gareca loves his teams to dominate the game through their attacking endeavors; but, he would love it if they change these game into probably winning situations too.
That is something, that Peru, unfortunately, succumbed due to their naivety while going all out attack on the field.
What did you think about the performance put forth by Peru? Sound off in the comments section below!
