24th Match Hockey World Cup 2018 (Men's)

Odisha Hockey World Cup

Bhubaneswar 2018 (Men’s)

FRA Vs CHN

France Beat The China

FRANCE                                  1 - 0                          CHINA

 Match Highlights

Timothee Clement was the sole scorer of the match that saw France win

Bhubaneswar, India: France on the other hand had Timothee Clement to thank for the victory. France might be the lowest ranked team in the tournament at 20, but they had already shown the world that rankings hardly have any significance by stunning Olympic champions Argentina 5-3 in the pool stages.

On Monday, they started on a bright note against world number 17 China and took the early initiative by earning four back-to-back penalty corners as early as in the second minute but wasted all the opportunities.

China made a subdued start to the game and allowed France to dominate the possession, relying mostly on their counter-attacking ability to stun their opponents.

In the 19th minute, a selfish play from Charles Masson denied France a great opportunity. After cutting inside the box from the right flank, Masson, instead of passing the ball to his teammate, went for glory and hit straight at the body of Chinese goalie Caiyu Wang from a tight angle.

China came close to scoring in the 21st minute but E Wenhui missed from close range after Ao Suozhu controlled a long ball over the French defence and made his way into the circle showcasing 3D skills.

Two minutes from half time, France were unlucky as Etienne Tynevez's deflection from a Jean-Baptiste Forgues pass hit the crossbar.

In the never next move, the Chinese goalkeeper once again came to his side's rescue by keeping out Blaise Rogeau's reverse hit from top of the box as the Frenchmen failed to break the 'Great Wall of China' in the opening two quarters.

China came out with more purpose after half time and came tantalisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 33rd minute but a sliding E Wenhui's deflection from Zixiang Guo pass was parried away by an alert France goalie Arthur Thieffry.

France finally broke the resolute Chinese defence in the 36th minute through Clement.

In the second cross-over match, France managed a narrow 1-0 win over debutants China to book their place in the quarters, where they will be up against two-time defending champions and world number 1 Australia.

England eased past New Zealand through Will Calnan's (25th minute) field strike and penalty corner conversion by Luke Taylor (44th minute) and will face Argentina in the first quarter-final on Wednesday.