It's a snoozer in Paris. The United States and France have done very little in the first 45 minutes and those in attendance at the Stade de France couldn't be blamed if they fell asleep. The U.S. is playing ultra defensively and while France has tried to create, outside of the occasional moment from Franck Ribery or Karim Benzema, they haven't had much. As a result, the two teams go to halftime in a scoreless draw.
France Vs. USA Live, 2011 International Friendly: First Half Ends With A Snooze
The best chances of the first half both came for France. Ribery did the work to create the first chance, dancing on the ball down the left before clearing enough space to cross for Jeremy Menez. The chance was wasted though as Menez got caught on his back foot and put his open shot from 15 yards over the bar.
Just before the halftime whistle, Benzema got a chance. The ball fell through to him and he was in on Tim Howard, but he couldn't quite control it. The best he could do was poke at it and that went right into the legs of Howard.
Stats are often misleading, but one statistic from this match isn’t at all. The French have completed 63 passes in the attacking third compared to just 23 for the U.S. Those number perfectly represent the way this match has gone.
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