France make a steady start to their campaign

France                      3-0                 Honduras
Benzema (45'-pen, 72')
Valladares (48' - og)

The French were all set to kickoff their World Cup 2014 campaign at the Estadio Biera-Rio in the beautiful city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Didier Deschamps preferred the 4-3-3 formation with Karim Benzema being preferred as their out an out striker. Laurent Koscienly was however, rested with Mamadou Sakho being given the preference. On the other hand, Honduras went with a traditional 4-4-2. They would have been happy to get at least a point in their hopes to survive the Group Stage.

First Half: 1 - 0
The French started dominating the game right from the word go. Mathieu Valbuena played a clever free kick to the edge of the box, however Benzema failed to make the most of it. It seemed to be a well rehearsed strategy to confuse the oppositions defence. Nevertheless, France kept winning free kicks with Matuidi hitting the woodwork, thanks to a brilliant save by Noel Valladares. As the French kept shooting balls into the Honduras box, they were denied again by the woodwork, this time the striker being Griezmann. Palacios, in the meanwhile, was yellow carded for an unnecessary tackle on Pogba. Honduras managed to see off the period of set piece play by the Les Blues. However, another challenge by Palacios, in the penalty box saw him being sent off. Benzema converted the penalty to put the French in the lead at half time.

Second Half:2-0
Manager Luis Suarez, inevitably had to make necessary substitutions. Osman Chavez and  Boniek Garcia were bought on to provide cover. However, the French pressed forward to get their second goal of the match in the 48'. It was the first time Goal line technology was used to conclude the decision rightfully in favour of France. The Les Blues continued to pile pressure, maintaining a whopping 80% possession. It was not too late before Benzema got his second (72') to seal the game for the French. Honduras, on the other hand kept playing a physical game with no consequence, much to the despair of their supporters.

The French seemed to have worked well on their set piece strategy and look comfortable to qualify top of the group. Honduras, on the other hand will hope that their physical style of play will help gain some points in the remaining fixtures against Switzerland and Ecuador.