ANKARA
France eased comfortably past Honduras with 3-0 win in their first World Cup 2014 match, played on Sunday at Porto Alegre's Estadio Beira-Rio.
Despite struggling to find the first goal to break the deadlock, France controlled the game throughout and now top Group E after a flawless victory against Central American side Honduras.
France started the match positively while Honduras preferred to close down and hoped for chances from counterattacks.
The breakthrough came after Wilson Palacios was sent off for a second yellow card when he fouled French midfielder Paul Pogba in the penalty just before half time -- the referree pointed to the spot without hesitation. France's star forward Karim Benzema emphatically converted the penalty kick in the 45th minute to make the score 1-0.
The goal made France more comfortable and "Les Bleus" doubled the score in the first minutes of the second half. Benzema's guided a superb pass from Yohann Cabaye which hit the far post, and then was inadvertently directed in by Honduran goalkeeper Noel Valladares, who was trying to scramble the ball off the line. It was the first World Cup goal that was awarded through new goal line technology that identifies whether the ball has crossed the goal line.
In 72nd minute France increased the lead to three after Benzema fired in a ferocious strike from close range, following up on French full-back Mathieu Debuchy's blocked drive.
Meanwhile, in other game of the group, Switzerland defeated Ecuador 2-1 in Brasilia. Swiss forward Haris Seferovic got his team "Schweizer Nati" off the hook in the last minute of the game with a classy finish in the six yard box. Switzerland's first goal was scored by 23-year-old forward Admir Mehmedi in 48th minute, an equalizer after Ecuadoran forward Enner Valencia had given his team a first-half lead.
Results of the matches in Group E are as follows:
Switzerland: 2 - Ecuador: 1
France: 3 - Honduras: 0
After first matches in the group, standings are as follows:
| Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|
| France |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| Switzerland |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Ecuador |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Honduras |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
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