France 3 - Honduras 0

Photo by Ian Walton

Porto Alegre, the southernmost site for Brasil 2014, was the site of the clash between Honduras and France. This was by far the testiest match so far at Brasil 2014, with both teams incurring multiple card-worthy offenses. The first flashpoint came when Paul Pogba of France(pictured, navy) and Wilson Palacios of Honduras got tangled. Palacios appear to step on Pogba's leg in a play where the ball was caught underneath Pogba's body. Pogba retaliate with a kick out at Palacios from the floor. Both men were shown yellow cards. Honduras were resolute in defense, but made little inroads toward the French goal. Blaise Matuidi came close to opening the scoring for France, but Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares was able to leap just high enough to tip the ball off his crossbar. The Honduran commitments to defense and aversion toward going up the pitch were remarkable. Once again, the crossbar saved Honduras when Antoine Griezmann had a go at goal. However, while centerback Victor Bernardez was off the pitch receiving treatment for a leg tweak, France drew a penalty. Palacios crashed into the back of Pogba as he readied to shot. For some reason, the referee decided to award a yellow card on the play, Palacios's second, so he was sent off the pitch in minute 43. France converted the penalty and took the 1-0 lead with them into the break.

In the first instance of use of goal-line technology, France were awarded their second goal of the match. Benzema latched onto a ball and then shot across his body. The ball ricocheted off the far post and would not have gone in but for the fact that it caromed off Valladares and back into the goal. It looked as though Valladares managed to stop the ball with his hand on the line, but the technology deemed it a goal. France were now up 2-0 and were looking to bury Honduras under a heap of goals. Benzema should have completed his brace, but after receiving a pass at the penalty spot, he could not make clean contact, and Valladares parried the ball away. Mathieu Valbuena nearly had their third soon thereafter, but his driven ball zoomed wide of the far post. Honduras had no way back at this point and were simply fighting to maintain pride for the rest of the second half. With just under twenty minutes to go, Benzema finished off the match. He gathered the ball after a teammate's shot deflected wildly into his path. He had plenty of time to gather himself before smacking the ball in at the near post for a three-goal lead. France coasted to the finish line with little trouble, and they win 3-0 to jump atop Group E.

France 3 pts +3
Switzerland 3 pts +1
Ecuador 0 pts -1
Honduras 0 pts -3

Goals
France
Karim Benzema 45 PK, 72
Noel Valladares 48 (OG)

Match Reports:
http://www.espnfc.us/team/france/478/blog/post/1884589/benzema-from-belarus-to-brazil
http://soccer.si.com/planet-futbol/2014/06/15/france-honduras-world-cup-commentary-recap-group-e
http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/4/blog/post/1884336/france-overcome-Honduras
http://www.espnfc.us/team/france/478/blog/post/1885268/mature-france-performance-sees-honduras-off

Highlights:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/highlights/match=300186496/index.html