International: Victories for “Les Bleus” and “Les Bleuets”, Norway almost eliminated

Last Friday, several Rennes players were involved in international matches, mainly Euro qualifiers.

Regarding the U21, « Les Bleuets » easily beat Kazakhstan in Clermont-Ferrand (2-0), thanks to a brace by Josuha Guilavogui (Saint-Etienne). This victory confirms the first place of France U21 France in its group, before a tricky game in Romania. Playing the whole match at left back , Chris Mavinga assured did his part of the job, and exploited the weaknesses of the opposition to often take part in the attacking phases.
Injured at the ankle against Lille, Vincent Pajot had to withdraw for this match. According to L’Équipe, the Rennes’ midfielder was however able to run during Thursday’s training. He could therefore come back to the pitch for this Tuesday’s match.

Coming to the senior team, « Les Bleus » won their match against a weak Albania team (3-0). After two goals scored in first half by Malouda and Rémy, former Rennais Anthony Réveillère closed the score by scoring his first international goal. Since Bosnia easily beat Luxembourg (5-0), Tuesday’s match between France and Bosnia can be considered as the « final » of the group. In case of a victory or a draw, Laurent Blanc’s players would be qualified for the next Euro; in case of defeat, they would have to go through the play-offs.
Starting the match at midfield, Yann M’Vila achieved a very nice first half, before being more discreet in the second half. It’s true to say that M’Vila was under the threat of a suspension in case of a yellow card, and he certainly didn’t want to miss Tuesday’s match.

At last, without playing, the Norway of Alexander Tettey is almost eliminated from the Euro. Exempted from any official match last week-end, the Scandinavian team had to hope for bad results of its direct opponents, Denmark and Portugal. But there were no surprises, since Denmark easily won in Cyprus with four goals scored during the first half-hour (4-1) and Portugal also won against Iceland (5-3), despite a few scares.
Tuesday, only a miracle could allow the Norwegians to access to the play-offs. Denmark and Portugal will face for the first place in Copenhagen (where Denmark will have to win in order to directly qualify). Three points behind, the Norwegians have to beat Cyprus and hope for a Danish victory. In this case, the decision would be made by the general goal difference, since Norway and Portugal are tied on the particular difference (Norway won 1-0 in Oslo and lost 0-1 in Lisbon). And the general goal difference seems to be quite insurmountable (+10 for Portugal, +1 for Norway). In plain language, Norway has to largely win against Cyprus and to hope that their Danish cousins achieve the same against Cristiano Ronaldo’s team.