Group E’s second match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals and the 10th match overall was the ugliest so far in the tournament.
In a first half that could easily have been likened to a street fight, France looked to establish their dominance and Honduras set outto frustrate the French with a very physical style of play.
Early on the strategy of the Honduran’s seemed to be paying off. In the 7th minute Patrice Eva took the first knock of the game and the French were visibly becoming frustrated in the 10th minute as the Hondurans continued to clatter them with tackles.
In the 11th minute there was a handball by Maynor Figueroa of Hull City, which led to a French free kick in a dangerous area. Olympique Marseille midfielder Mathieu Valbuena took it, but it was punched away by Honduran goalkeeper Noel Vallardares.
Just three minutes later another free kick would be given to the French in a similar area, and Valbuena would step up to take yet again. His initial cross was cleared by the Hondurans, but only as far as PSG’s Blaise Matuidi, who blasted his effort on target. Luckily for the Hondurans, Vallardares managed to get the slightest of touches to send it over the crossbar.
The physical style of Honduras and the frustrations of the French would nearly form a volatile combination in the 26th minute when Juventus midfielder and Alex Ferguson reject Paul Pogba would hold up play on the right wing against two Honduran defenders. As Pogba fell over he attempted to control the ball with both feet and maintain possession.
Wilson Palacios of Stoke City appeared to stamp on Pogba’s left leg in an attempt to win the ball, which led to Pogba following up with a kick that barely clipped the Potters midfielder. In a move that easily could have seen both players shown straight red cards under a less forgiving referee, the punishment was only yellow for both men and the game carried on.
Figueroa’s speculative shot from nearly both the mid-field and left sidelines in the 35th minute would sadly sum up the poor effort put in for the entire 90 minutes for the Hondurans.
France would finally get their breakthrough in the 43rd minute when a ball played into Pogba was controlled by the Juventus midfielder in the box, only for Palacios to clumsily barge into his back earning his second yellow card and a penalty kick for the French.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema would step up in the 45th minute to slot the spot kick home to the keeper’s right and put France up 1-0 at the half.
The 2nd half would begin and end with France in control. Honduras made two changes at half time and looked to set up for damage control in the last 45.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup finally got its first beneficial look at goal-line technology in the 48th minute when Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Yohan Cabaye played a long ball from the right wing to Benzema at the far post. Benzema cut back to his right boot and struck his effort off of the right goal post.
The ball traveled back across the face of goal without crossing the line before hitting an unlucky Valladares and trickling in over the line before the keeper could collect. Honduras’ manager Luis Suarez became the 2nd man with that name in as many days to let his emotions run wild, and despite the technology still didn’t seem convinced it was a goal. The own goal was given and the match resumed.
I wasn’t able to reach Chelsea legend and all-time leading goalscorer Frank Lampard in Brazil for his comments on the first beneficial usage of goal line technology at a World Cup, but I could imagine the quote would have been something like this: “It’s about $#%^^%$%$ time!”
The 2nd half offered little else to talk about as both teams seemed content to see things out. France would make changes pulling Pogba and Cabaye off to avoid picking up a second yellow card.
Benzema’s second goal in the 72nd minute was the only talking point of the final 40 minutes, as he received a deflection off of the boot of the fallen Evra, setting himself up nicely for his brace and securing the three points for France.
