Germany secured an impressive 2-0 victory over France in friendly action on Saturday, with Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz netting for the away side.
The match marked Toni Kroos’ return to the national team after revealing he had been approached by coach Julian Nagelsmann.
He wasted no time in reintroducing himself to the side, combining with Wirtz after just seven seconds to give Germany the advantage.
The Real Madrid star picked out Wirtz from the centre circle, and the Bayer Leverkusen star was given time and space before firing into te top-left corner and past Brice Samba.
EFE
Germany’s fast start seemed to rock France, who couldn’t find their footing in the early stages and struggled to create anything of note.
Ousmane Dembele finally put the German backline under pressure in the 23rd minute and found Kylian Mbappe, only for the PSG star to fire his effort off the mark.
From there France began growing in confidence, with Mbappe’s cheeky chip dealt with by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, while Adrien Rabiot couldn’t find the goal from close range while under pressure.
Nevertheless Germany entered the break ahead, eventually doubling their lead in the opening minutes of the second half.
Germany catch France sleeping early again
Wirtz did well to pick out Jamal Musiala with a ball over the top. The Bayern Munich star controlled it in the penalty area, took the ball around Samba and squared it for Havertz, who was left with the easiest of finishes.
EFE
From there France tried to cut the lead with efforts from Dembele and Mbappe, but to no avail, as both teams looked to the bench in the closing 25 minutes of the match.
The changes did little to inspire Les Bleus despite playing in front of their home fans at the Groupama Stadium. In fact, it was Germany who nearly added a third when debutant Maximilian Mittelstadt forced Samba into a fingertip save.
The Lens goalkeeper then denied Thomas Muller and Deniz Undav as the away side continued to attack, with France coach Didier Deschamps spotted looking anything but pleased in what was his 150th game in charge of the national team.
France’s best chance came in the closing stages when Mittelstadt couldn’t deal with an Mbappe cross and almost scored an own goal, with Rudiger eventually clearing the danger after hitting the crossbar, capping off what was a disappointing performance for the home side.