To err is human to forgive is divine. Didier Deschamps deserves a pat on the back for at last coming to his senses and recalling Karim Benzema back to the Les Bleus fold. In as much as Giroud has held fort admirably during the five plus years that Karim has been in the cold, Karim is just too hot right now to ignore. His performances for Real Madrid say so. He had a decent showing here against the Welsh in Nice winning the penalty which was ultimately saved by Wales keeper Ward. Karim was banned after the French prosecutors charged him with extortion and blackmail after urging his former French squad teammate Mathieu Valbuena to pay blackmailers who were threatening to leak a sex tape featuring Mathieu.

The Welsh who had a good attacking trio of James, Wilson and Bale were never really threatening Lloris’s goal. They were not helped by Nico Williams’s sending off in the 25th minute. The Liverpool defender handled Benzema’s shot leading to the penalty that Karim missed. The distance of the ball to the hand was so short that Neco had to be Sonic the Hedgehog to get out of the way. This not considering the fact that he was protecting his face. Wales rightly appealing the decision. Lloris was superb when called into action. The pick of the goals came from Barca attacker Antoine Griezmann, a trademark left foot curler. France has got to be favorites to win Euro 2020 and the fact that they were missing a number of regulars should send shivers down the spine of opponents this month.