It's not just the Euro football championship that is filling stadiums in Germany, as on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. (live on The L'Equipe channel), France will challenge the world champions in Cologne in front of 18,000 spectators! After a real walk in the park against Turkey, the Blues will have their first real test against the teammates of the Wagner brothers and Dennis Schroder. This is the Germans' first friendly match, and for Vincent Collet, it will be a game of “liar's poker” since the two teams will face each other at the Olympic Games.
“Even if we play hard, it's going to be a game of liar's poker. We're going to play simple, basic things but on the intensity, it's going to be interesting. Germany has a lot of assets on the offensive register, so it's going to be interesting to see how our defense can control and limit them.” explained the coach of the Blues.
The final list will be made official on Monday
What interests Vincent Collet is to see the Gobert-Wembanyama duo facing mobile and offensive interiors. “In terms of defense, space coverage, having both is obviously very beneficial, it's even unheard of! Even when one goes far from the basket, the other protects him. It's all the more effective since the three outside players chase the ball carrier and bring him towards the trap. Hence the importance of the pressure and the defensive quality of the outside players. Our defense will only be exceptional if the outside players make their contribution to harassing the opponent. It's also a work of undermining.”
The other challenge of this meeting is to validate the list of 12 for the Olympic Games. The list must be made official on Monday with the CNOSF, and against Germany, there will only be 14 in uniform. Jaylen Hoard should be on the sidelines, as well as a leader. Perhaps Théo Maledon, whose name appeared in the Orlando Summer League team.
Monday evening, meeting in Montpellier, for the “return match” between the two teams. This time with the final groups.