|
Karim Benzema, who lifted the Champions League trophy with Real
Madrid at the same venue last Saturday, looked like he was
headed for another stellar night as he had an early shot
smothered and then a goal ruled out for offside.
His strike partner Kylian Mbappe departed at halftime after
picking up an injury but Benzema was undeterred, cutting in from
the right and playing a one-two with Christopher Nkunku before
dribbling past another couple of Danish defenders and firing
home in the 51st minute.
The world champions had Denmark under enormous pressure for most
of the second half but they levelled through substitute
Cornelius when he deftly volleyed home a pass from Pierre
Hojbjerg in the 68th minute.
The goal did little to stop the relentless waves of French
attacks and Ngolo Kante should have put the home side back into
the lead in the 81st minute, but his curling shot smacked off
the right-hand post with Kasper Schmeichel stranded.
Denmark remained a danger on the break, with playmaker Christian
Eriksen somehow firing his shot straight at Hugo Lloris with the
goal at his mercy in the 86th minute, but Cornelius came to the
rescue two minutes later.
The 29-year-old beat the offside trap to latch on to Joakim
Maehle's long pass and blasted the ball high into the net past
Lloris for the winner.
"It was better than even I expected. Fantastic, in front of
80,000 people, we go over and beat the world's best team," a
delighted Cornelius told Danish broadcaster TV2.
"We have a strong team and have good players everywhere. We have
lots of players who can come in from the bench and keep the
level up. We are a small country but we can play with the best,"
he added.
"It was a match between two good teams. There were some less
good passages (of play) but also good passages. There are areas
we will have an opportunity to work on in training," said
France's stand-in coach Guy Stephan, who was deputising for
Didier Deschamps following his father's death.
France travel to Croatia for their next game on Monday, while
the Danes face another away game against group leaders Austria,
who beat the Croatians 3-0 in their opener.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
