France rally not enough to overturn hosts' hopes
France men's chances of qualification into the knockout stage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are largely now reliant on their own steam against hosts Japan. Les Bleus were swatted aside by Mexico in their opener in a thriller, and a similarly exciting game against South Africa saw them edge their adversaries in injury time after being 3-2 down with minutes left on the clock. The Samurai Blue U23s are all but through, and even defeat on Wednesday evening is highly unlikely to change that. Read our preview here:
André the giant
Remarkably, for such a diverse and skilled roster, it's the overage figure of André-Pierre Gignac who has actually scored four of five France's goals to date in the delayed tournament. Sylvain Ripoli didn't make wholesale changes after the heavy reverse to Mexico, and not even in defensive areas. Indeed, eight of the XI retained their places whilst struggling to assert themselves in both boxes in their clash with Amaglug-glug until the latter stages. The Tigres target man has been rolling back the years in the Far East, but won't be able to dominate his marker that much, nor can he do it alone; the likes of Nathanaël Mbuku, little over half his age, must step up in support from attacking areas in midfield to bypass Japan's double pivot.
Kubo and the two strings
Perhaps more impressive than their shutout of South Africa was the manner in which they raced into an early two goal lead over Mexico, who are no slouches at any age or level of the men's game. A blitz from the outset won't be necessary given their almost unassailable position at the top of their pool, and goal difference will be the crucial tiebreaker should the worst happen. Real Madrid youngster Takefusa Kubo is responsible for two of their three strikes, and what the versatile forward lacks in big-game experience and a bit of nous, he tends to make up for in explosive turns of pace on the dribble and decisive goals.
Rising sons
This is an exciting time for football in Japan at a national level. Whilst they are doubtlessly helped in a small way by being the home side for the tournament, that they have gone toe-to-toe with both South Africa and Mexico, and so boldly against the latter to triumph, speaks volumes. Whilst on paper France retain the better individuals and generally more renowned talents, competitions like the Olympics where the groups don't tend to have much time beforehand together but can nevertheless coalesce into a functioning team usually go far. bet365 have odds of 3.40 for a draw that will have Ripoli's men sweating on the outcome of Mexico's tie with South Africa.
