France 5-0 Paraguay
Hands up if you expected France to run riot in Rennes?
For the star-studded Les Bleus to live up those pre-match betting odds and run out easy winners in this friendly?
Well, sports betting fans, Didier Deschamps men didn’t let you down.
Indeed, an early double treat for live betting backers of the hosts ensured this match was virtually over before it began.
Once Olivier Giroud (given the nod in the starting line-up to Alexandre Lacazette and Kylian Mbappe) had twice found the net inside the opening 13 minutes – converting crosses from Ousmane Dembele and Dimitri Payet – all the focus was not so much on the game but of one of the country’s stars.
Step forward one Antoine Griezmann, heavily linked with a big money move to Manchester United but, in the 24 hours before this match, that interest reportedly cooling.
Whether this is true, no-one from the club has confirmed, nor Griezmann.
Indeed, the reports may have stemmed from the news a transfer ban has been upheld on his club, preventing Atletico Madrid from registering new players this summer, making it unlikely the club will countenance any departures either.
If a potential move to England or a lucrative new deal with Atletico was on his mind who knows, but Griezmann remains a professional and this was evident in the 80 minutes he was on the pitch, capped off by a close range finish which rounded off the scoring.
Paraguay have a slim chance of qualifying for Russia next summer and coach Francisco Arce, who played here when the spirited South Americans were edged out in extra-time in the 1998 World Cup, deep down probably had limited hope of causing a shock.
This was their sixth defeat in eight matches and they rarely threatened as Giroud completed his hat-trick and substitute Moussa Sissoko added a fourth.
But this was a night when the focus was mainly on one man – and it wasn’t the hat-trick hero.
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