The France vs Paraguay friendly match will be played this Sunday, June 1 (12:00 PM Pacific), at the Allianz Riviera at Nice.
France will look to extend their winning series against the national team which didn’t manage to qualify for the World Cup, breaking the string of four successful features at that tournament. Paraguay finished bottom in South American qualifications, managing to win only 12 points out of the 16 games – a rather miserable result. On the other hand, France was on the edge of abyss in the World Cup qualifications, trailing 2:0 versus Ukraine after the first match. But, they’ve managed to get a 3:0 victory in the rematch, and secured a final qualification to the World Cup.
After that, they’ve played two friendly matches, and got two flawless victories against Netherlands with a result of 2:0; and recently against Norway they’ve shown an even better display and a 4:0 victory.
Additionally, France will be boosted in this match with Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane, who got a prolonged holiday after their victory in the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid.
After the World Cup in 1998 when France won their only World Cup title, their national team was often followed by issues that had nothing to do with the game itself, such as arguments between the coach and the players, between players themselves, and creating a great atmosphere in the national team became a must for current coach Didier Deschamps. All seems good at the moment, and as long as France keeps winning, it will remain so. From that point of view, their option to play with weaker national teams, such as Paraguay, is understandable. Deschamps will look forward to building a winning mentality, which will be very important for his team even before the World Cup starts.
Unlike them, Paraguay is looking to play World Cup participants to gain confidence, and prepare themselves for Copa America. They also want to forget their debacle in the qualifications for the World Cup, and prove to themselves that they can play against the top nations. They’ve managed to win against Cameroon in their last friendly match, so Paraguay could be back on track.
France vs Paraguay Prediction
In this match, it is expected that France will dictate the game from midfield and make a lot of goal scoring chances because Paraguay’s defense is pretty vulnerable. Benzema will probably get a starting eleven spot, and will try to establish himself as the first attacking option of the national team, so we can expect a very aggressive display from the hosts.
Paraguay will rely on the counter attacks, and on the experience of their veteran attacker Roque Santa Cruz.
Considering all the facts, France should cruise to an easy 3:1 victory.
France vs Paraguay Television
The match will be televised on ESPN 3 & Galavision.
