Other Competitions
Mathys Tel, Arnaud Kalimuendo Braces Fuel France U21's Win
Several Ligue 1 McDonald's talents were present, as six of the starting 11 currently play for a club in France's top flight: Jérémy Jacquet (Rennes), Dilane Bakwa (RC Strasbourg), Johann Lepenant (FC Nantes), Ayyoub Bouaddi (LOSC Lille), Andy Diouf (RC Lens), and Arnaud Kalimuendo (Rennes).
Les Bleus had two players record braces, allowing them to cruise to a convincing win. Mathys Tel, who is currently on loan to Tottenham Hotspur and came through Rennes' youth academy, scored two goals in the first half.
On the first goal in the 21st minute, Tel dribbled into the box and fired a splendid shot to beat the Slovakian goalkeeper to give France a 1-0 lead. The visitors didn't take long to push their one-goal lead to two as Tel struck again in the 24th minute.
Rather than dribbling into the box like his first goal, the Spurs player used his speed. He timed his run perfectly and ended up behind the Slovakian defense. Once he received the ball, all Tel needed to do was beat the goalkeeper.
The Slovakian shot-stopper did his best to make himself as wise as possible, but Tel had enough space to chip over the goalkeeper and give France a two-goal lead.
France went into the break with a 2-0 lead, and they'd tacked on another two goals thanks to Stade Rennais' Arnaud Kalimuendo. In the 57th minute, the striker converted a penalty kick to extend the away side's lead to three goals. Then, 12 minutes later, Kalimuendo found the back of the net again to make the contest 4-0.
During this international window, France's U21 team showed their scoring prowess, netting four or more goals in both of their matches. Les Bleus U21 side's next game will be in June for the group stage of UEFA Euro U21, where they'll take on Portugal in their opening match.
The Stat: 3
After scoring a brace against Slovakia's U21 squad, Kalimuendo scored a pair of goals for France's U21 side for the third time. The first time the Rennes player scored a brace was against Armenia U21 in 2021 and the second time when facing Cyprus U21 in 2023.
READ MORE:
>>Internationals: Almada, David on the scoresheet for their countries and more
