Olivier Giroud took advantage of two blunders from goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to give France a quick lead against Denmark, and Les Bleus held on for an easy 2-1 win during Sunday's international friendly.Giroud and Anthony Martial combined well throughout the match, but the Arsenal man was still gifted two goals by the blundering Danish stopper. The hosts scored a late consolation goal through Erik Sviatchenko but hardly threatened the French goal outside of that chance.Before the start of the match, the Danes learned they would not be qualifying directly for Euro 2016, as Albania passed them in the standings by virtue of a 3-0 win over Armenia.William Kvist Jorgensen returned to the starting XI for Denmark, while France made wholesale changes, leaving the likes of Karim Benzema and Yohan Cabaye on the bench and instead going with Martial and Giroud.To say the latter was eager to impress would be an understatement. Just minutes into the match, Martial cut inside and played a clever through ball, with Giroud immediately firing on goal.It should have been a routine save for Schmeichel, but the 28-year-old somehow failed to block the ball with his body, and instead, it rolled agonisingly slow into goal.ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson acknowledged it wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing goal fans have ever seen:Les Bleus were only just getting started, however. Minutes later, Antoine Griezmann stole the ball deep in his own half and set up a beautiful team move over several stations, with the ball ending up at Giroud's feet in front of goal. The Arsenal man blasted a volley right at Schmeichel, who could only push it back into his path and watched the rebound go into the net.Johnson was shocked:Bleacher Report UK had the answer to his question:France continued to press their advantage, and Martial nearly made it 3-0, but this time, Schmeichel had an answer for his powerful drive. The young Manchester United forward caused plenty of problems with his constant movement, and he made the perfect partner for Giroud, who looked ready to pounce whenever he had the chance.Michael Krohn-Dehli provided Christian Eriksen with the first Danish chance of the match, but the Tottenham Hotspur star curled his shot right at Steve Mandanda, who saved in two touches.On the other side of the pitch, Griezmann played a delightful cross into Raphael Varane, whose header flashed just wide of the post. David Cartlidge of BeIN Sports USA thought the Atletico man had an excellent match and hoped to see more of the same in La Liga:Krohn-Dehli and Eriksen continued to be the main danger men for the hosts, with the former almost isolating the latter in front of Mandanda. France were happy to play out the final 15 minutes of the half at a slower pace and wait for half-time, and the Danes couldn't take advantage, with no further chances before the break.Kurt Zouma replaced Varane to start the second half, and France easily maintained control without truly pushing for another goal. Blaise Matuidi wasn't his usual dominant self in midfield, and his struggles in the passing game held back the French attack.When they did have a shot on goal, it always looked threatening with the shaky Schmeichel in goal, via French Football Weekly:Martial really should have scored after he found himself on the end of another promising team move, but the youngster couldn't keep his composure and blasted a shot over the bar from close range.The former Monaco man then showed off his superb athletic ability, sprinting past the entire Danish defence before drawing a save from Schmeichel. The stopper was starting to redeem himself, and his next action was reading an intended lob from Giroud well. As shared by Get French Football News, that should have been Giroud's hat-trick:Yussuf Poulsen missed Denmark's best chance of the match, failing to get the ball past Mandanda initially and taking too much time to finally get a second shot off, allowing Les Bleus to clear the ball off the line. Martial then needed too much time to get a shot off from a promising position, as the United man clearly started to tire.Sviatchenko shocked everyone by scoring a late goal past Mandanda, a beautiful curling effort, but it was too late to complete the comeback.France were anything but inspiring in the second half but showed their pure quality in the first, and the fact they dominated a talented Danish squad this easily with a multitude of starters on the bench is impressive.The Euro 2016 hosts have a wealth of talent, a young core of stars and arguably more depth than any other side in the world. They'll be tested more in upcoming friendlies against Germany and England, but so far, Didier Deschamps' troops look like possible favourites for next year's European Championship.Post-Match ReactionSpeaking to Canal+ (h/t Get French Football News Press Conferences), Deschamps defended his decision to keep rotating his squad:Follow @ReverschPassRead more World Football news on BleacherReport.com
Click here to read full news..
