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- France 1-2 Ivory Coast: Doue and Amad complete shock second-half comeback
France 1-2 Ivory Coast: Doue and Amad complete shock second-half comeback
France's preparations for the World Cup did not start by going to plan, with Ivory Coast coming from behind to win in Nantes.
Amad Diallo rounded off a stunning second-half comeback as Ivory Coast shocked France 2-1 in a pre-World Cup international friendly.
Rayan Cherki had given Les Bleus the lead on the stroke of half-time, but after Guela Doue equalised early in the second half, it was Ivory Coast who found the winning goal.
France came flying out of the blocks, with Kylian Mbappe forcing Yahia Fofana into a sharp stop early on before Marcus Thuram blazing over the bar shortly after.
Adrien Rabiot narrowly missed the top-right corner from distance as they continued to step up the pressure, while Cherki had perhaps the clearest opening; with an open goal in front of him, he took too heavy a touch and ended up running it straight to a grateful Yahia Fofana.
Simon Adingra almost grabbed an opener against the run of play, with Mike Maignan staying alert to deny him with three minutes to go to half-time.
And on the stroke of the break, Cherki broke the deadlock. After his first shot from distance was saved, France recycled the ball, and the Manchester City winger danced through the box before drilling a powerful shot in.
Nicolas Pepe cut France's defence open with a throughball eight minutes after the break, with Ibrahima Konate unable to cut it out, and Doue slotted past Maignan one-on-one.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Seko Fofana saw chances go begging at either end before Amad secured the win in the 84th minute, finishing off a flowing move with a first-time finish into the bottom-left corner.
Ivory Coast dampen start of Deschamps' farewell tour
There was a celebratory mood in Nantes, with the French fans showing their appreciation for Didier Deschamps, holding up cutouts of his face and displaying a huge banner ahead of him leaving his post at the end of the World Cup.
And it looked like the first of their two friendlies ahead of the tournament was set to follow the script, with Cherki doing his bid for a starting place no harm with his goal.
However, despite France finishing with 15 shots, they racked up just 0.88 expected goals (xG) and did not manage a single 'big' chance, with their defence beaten after the break.
Ivory Coast scored with both of their shots on target after the break as they stepped up their attacking game, and ultimately finished with 1.31 xG, with Doue and Amad both scoring with their only attempts.
And it leaves Deschamps with work to do before France face Northern Ireland in their final warm-up friendly in Lille on Monday.













