France vs Brazil preview

March 25, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

France vs BrazilEuro 2016 hosts France will test their skills against mighty Brazil in what should be a great game of football at Stade de France.

The Selecao have seriously raised their game under Carlos Dunga and are now searching for seventh victory on the bounce.

France did fairly well at the 2014 World Cup, wining their qualifying group before defeating Nigeria in the first knockout stage, but they eventually suffered a narrow defeat to eventual champions Germany despite outplaying their more illustrious opponents.

Les Blues wasted no time and immediately started preparations for the Euro 2016 that will be played in front of home fans, and they have been quite convincing in international friendlies.

While sharing spoils with Serbia and Albania, France defeated Spain, Portugal, Armenia and Sweden, so they are 2.60 (8/5) to see off Brazil as well.

The likes of Nabil Fekir, Olivier Giroud and Kurt Zouma have been rewarded for their impressive form of late, earning their place in what is a very strong squad.

Hugo Lloris and Maxime Gonalons withdrew due to injury, with Benoit Costil and Joshua Guilavogui called to replace them.

Karim Benzema and Moussa Sissoko trained individually on Tuesday, but they are expected to be in contention for the Brazil game.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Mandanda – Jallet, Varane, Sakho, Evra – Schneiderlin, Matuidi – Griezmann, Fekir, Valbuena – Giroud.

As expected, Luiz Felipe Scolari paid the price for the embarrassing exit from the 2014 World Cup, with heavy defeats to Germany and Netherlands seen as a national disaster.

Many pundits had their doubts when Carlos Dunga was appointed as his successor, but the 1994 World Cup winner has enjoyed a tremendous start to his second spell in charge of the Seleccao.

Brazil won six straight matches since he took over the reigns, beating Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Japan, Turkey and Austria while conceding just one goal in the process.

Carlos Dunga surprised everyone by calling Santos forward Robinho to the squad for friendlies against France and Chile, while Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho kept their places in the side.

The boss was forced to make some late changes as David Luiz, Diego Tardelli and Maqruinhos were ruled out through injury, with Luiz Adriano, Gil and Gabriel Paulista drafted into the squad.

Having won last six international friendlies, the Seleccao are available at 2.88 (17/9) to emerge victorious at Stade de France.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Alves – Danilo, Miranda, Thiago Silva, Marcelo – Fernandinho, Gustavo – Willian, Oscar, Neymar – Luiz Adriano.

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