REAL MADRID STRIKER struck a brace as France thumped Estonia 4-0 in an impressive Euro 2012 friendly to give Group D rivals England food for thought.
Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery set the ball rolling in the northern town of Le Mans with the opener on 24 minutes before Benzema made it 2-0 eight minutes before the break as the French found their form.
Benzema added another just two minutes after the restart before Paris Saint Germain forward Jeremy Menez made it four in stoppage time.
On the negative side for Laurent Blanc’s men a central defensive partnership of Philippe Mexes of AC Milan and Valencia’s Adil Rami had a few nervous moments but that failed to take the gloss off a morale-boosting win and, as a former stopper himself, Blanc should be capable of passing on some tips to his backline
Newcastle’s Yohan Cabaye was a driving force in midfieldwhile Ribery bagged his third goal in as many outings after Benzema neatly set him up efore bagging his own 14th and 15th goals for his country the first a fine curling indivisual effort and the second laid on by Ribery.
Advertisement
Menez bundled in his late goal after coming on as substitute for Benzema along with Olivier Giroud, who replaced Florent Malouda. France have now gone 21 games unbeaten and the memories of a disastrous 2010 World Cup are finally beginning to fade away.
They meet England next Monday as they open up their programme before further pool meetings with co-hosts Ukraine and Sweden.
Ukraine meanwhile, slumped to a 2-0 loss to Turkey in their last warm-up match. Fenerbahce midfielder Erkin Caner and Besiktas forward Mustafa Pektemek scored one apiece for Turkey to upset Ukraine with just a week remaining before their opening encounter at Euro-2012.
Sweden beat Serbia 2-1, securing an encouraging victory which nonetheless raised questions about whether the team’s defence is up to scratch ahead of Euro 2012.
Sweden started off the scoring in the 23rd minute after Serbia’s keeper Branimir Aleksic fumbled the ball on a Swedish corner and Ola Toivonen tapped it through the posts with his heel.
But Serbia equalised just four minutes later, after a tackle by midfielder Anders Svensson gave Serbia a free kick that led to a corner which Neven Subotic headed in between two Swedish defenders.
Serbian keeper Damir Kahriman, who replaced Aleksic at the start of the second half, pulled down Toivonen and earned Sweden a penalty kick in the 52nd minute, which Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasted into the far-left corner to produce Sweden’s winning goal.
Friendly wrap: Benzama at the double for France
REAL MADRID STRIKER struck a brace as France thumped Estonia 4-0 in an impressive Euro 2012 friendly to give Group D rivals England food for thought.
Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery set the ball rolling in the northern town of Le Mans with the opener on 24 minutes before Benzema made it 2-0 eight minutes before the break as the French found their form.
Benzema added another just two minutes after the restart before Paris Saint Germain forward Jeremy Menez made it four in stoppage time.
On the negative side for Laurent Blanc’s men a central defensive partnership of Philippe Mexes of AC Milan and Valencia’s Adil Rami had a few nervous moments but that failed to take the gloss off a morale-boosting win and, as a former stopper himself, Blanc should be capable of passing on some tips to his backline
Newcastle’s Yohan Cabaye was a driving force in midfieldwhile Ribery bagged his third goal in as many outings after Benzema neatly set him up efore bagging his own 14th and 15th goals for his country the first a fine curling indivisual effort and the second laid on by Ribery.
Menez bundled in his late goal after coming on as substitute for Benzema along with Olivier Giroud, who replaced Florent Malouda. France have now gone 21 games unbeaten and the memories of a disastrous 2010 World Cup are finally beginning to fade away.
Check out Benzema’s first, a real corker.
YouTube credit: eurofootballweb
They meet England next Monday as they open up their programme before further pool meetings with co-hosts Ukraine and Sweden.
Ukraine meanwhile, slumped to a 2-0 loss to Turkey in their last warm-up match. Fenerbahce midfielder Erkin Caner and Besiktas forward Mustafa Pektemek scored one apiece for Turkey to upset Ukraine with just a week remaining before their opening encounter at Euro-2012.
Sweden beat Serbia 2-1, securing an encouraging victory which nonetheless raised questions about whether the team’s defence is up to scratch ahead of Euro 2012.
Sweden started off the scoring in the 23rd minute after Serbia’s keeper Branimir Aleksic fumbled the ball on a Swedish corner and Ola Toivonen tapped it through the posts with his heel.
But Serbia equalised just four minutes later, after a tackle by midfielder Anders Svensson gave Serbia a free kick that led to a corner which Neven Subotic headed in between two Swedish defenders.
Serbian keeper Damir Kahriman, who replaced Aleksic at the start of the second half, pulled down Toivonen and earned Sweden a penalty kick in the 52nd minute, which Zlatan Ibrahimovic blasted into the far-left corner to produce Sweden’s winning goal.
- © AFP, 2012
Net gains for Trap as Given to train tomorrow, Ireland manager says
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Euro 2012