Review of Camavinga’s France performance as a defensive midfielder vs Ireland

Didier Deschamps finally decided to play Eduardo Camavinga in his favored position, as the #6 in a lone defensive pivot, instead of left back. The 20-year-old got a coveted start vs Ireland, in place of his Real Madrid teammate Tchouameni. The match finished 1-0 in favor to Les Bleus with Camavinga playing the full 90 minutes.

The triangle of Theo Hernandez-Camavinga-Upamecano were heavily involved in building out play for France. All three had over 100 touches in the match, the most of the French team, and all hedged more towards left side of the pitch. Camavinga always tried to make himself an option for teammates, running feverishly off the ball to get into quality spots on the pitch. His possesion game was mostly safe, but he did try the odd line-breaking vertical ball (think Benzema vs Liverpool at the Bernabeu).

The second half allowed Camavinga to show his best defensive qualities. He was even involved in the lone goal of the match, pressing high up the pitch and forcing Ireland into a turnover.

The 20-year-old finished the match with the following statistics:

• 3 Key Passes
• 104 touches
• 85 passes (93% PA)
• 1 big chance created
• 1/1 dribbles
• 5/6 ground duels and 2/2 aerial duels
• was fouled 3 times
• 2 interceptions + 1 completed tackle

Aurelien Tchouameni did feature in the match, playing the last 8 minutes for Adrien Rabiot in the center of midfield.