Finland foil Thuram Jr's first outing

PARIS • France coach Didier Deschamps said he saw "some interesting things" from Marcus Thuram despite Finland stunning the world champions 2-0, on the day the Borussia Monchengladbach attacker emulated his father Lilian by making his debut for Les Bleus.

Thuram was picked by Deschamps for the friendly on Wednesday at the Stade de France over 22 years after his dad won the World Cup at the same ground, but despite a strong performance on the left wing he could not stop the Finns from coming out on top.

"He has done some good things, especially during the first half. He could have scored with a bit more luck when his header hit the crossbar," said Deschamps.

"He has tried, he has created some space. It was a bit more difficult for him during the second half. There were less gaps and maybe he was a bit tired too.

"But he has shown us some interesting things for his first cap."

The 23-year-old hit the bar with less than 15 minutes gone and soon after flashed a difficult volley over as he and Lucas Digne caused continual problems down the left flank for the away side.

However, Marcus Forss stunned the hosts when he collected the ball after a Moussa Sissoko mistake and rammed home at Steve Mandanda's near post.

France barely had any time to react before Onni Valakari doubled the away side's lead with a stunning effort after being left to stroll towards goal.

Deschamps brought on Antoine Griezmann, Anthony Martial and N'Golo Kante just before the hour mark but could not break down the well-organised Finns.

The result will disappoint the France coach but he will be buoyed by the performance of Thuram, who made more of an impression than some of the more established international players on display, including Paul Pogba and Olivier Giroud.

"It was a good first half despite the goals," Thuram told TV channel M6. "I'm trying to learn a lot alongside the other internationals... and to gain as much experience as possible. I hope that will continue."

He could be in contention for France's upcoming Nations League matches against European champions Portugal tomorrow and Sweden next Tuesday.

Deschamps also said last week that the son of his old France teammate had "gone up a level" since joining Monchengladbach from French side Guingamp in July last year.

Thuram has scored three times in 11 appearances for the Bundesliga side this season and was the first footballer in Germany to take a knee in protest following the death of the 46-year-old African American George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

Lilian is the most-capped player in the history of the French national team with 142 appearances. The former defender, 48, also triumphed alongside Deschamps at Euro 2000.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE