PARIS, BALIPOST.com – Another goal from Kingsley Coman set France on their way to a 3-0 victory over Andorra in their Euro 2020 qualifying clash at the Stade de France on Tuesday as Antoine Griezmann missed a penalty for his country for the second game running.
Coman had scored twice in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Albania at the same venue and this time he opened the scoring in the 18th minute against their Pyrenean neighbours, ranked a lowly 136th in the world.
“It has been a very good week. It has gone well personally and collectively,” Coman told television station TF1.
Having hit the bar with a penalty against Albania, Barcelona star Griezmann had a spot-kick saved before the half-hour mark here, but his club colleague Clement Lenglet headed in his first international goal to make it 2-0 in the second half.
Wissam Ben Yedder wrapped up the win for Didier Deschamps’ team on what was a notable occasion, as France played their 100th game at the stadium where they won the World Cup final in 1998.
The world champions could have won by more — they hit the woodwork twice in the second half against an Andorra side who fought bravely but remain without a point or a goal after six qualifiers.
Les Bleus are joint-top of qualifying Group H with 15 points after six games, level with Turkey and three ahead of Iceland with the top two teams advancing to next year’s 24-team, Europe-wide finals.
“We came together to get six points in September and we have got the job done,” Deschamps told TF1.
Turkey, who beat France at home in June, won 4-0 in Moldova on Tuesday and visit France next month.
Iceland’s hopes of qualifying suffered a major blow on Tuesday when they went down 4-2 in Albania. Their home meeting with France in Reykjavik on October 11 will be crucial for them.
France should not be too concerned about that trip, however, not least because the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante may be back by then. (AFP)