MAIGNAN SAVES A PENALTY; FRANCE, BELGIUM AND USA ALL WIN

In the first game "post-Lloris", Mike Maignan took his place between the sticks for the French National side and turned in an impressive performance on a successful evening's work for Deschamps men. Led by new captain, Kylian Mbappé, France easily beat the Netherlands 4-0 with a brace from the PSG striker, and one each for Griezmann and Upamecano. 

On matchday 1 in Group B for Euro 2024 qualification, the contest was more or less over inside 21 minutes, with France bagging three goals. Two minutes before the end they got their fourth, before glory for Maignan five minutes into stoppage-time saving Memphis Depay's spot-kick. Interestingly, this was the second time in his career that he has saved a penalty from the Dutchman; the first was back on 1 December in 2018 in the 2-2 draw between Lille and Lyon. Theo Hernández started and played the full 90 minutes, while Giroud replaced Kolo Muani in the 76th minute. 

Also Belgium ran out clear winners, beating Sweden 3-0 through a Lukaku hat-trick. Zlatan Ibrahimović came on with his side 2-0 down in the 73rd minute, finding minutes with his national side after almost a year, when he played in the 2-0 defeat to Poland on 29 March 2022. For Belgium, Alexis Saelemeakers got five minutes at the end, while Charles De Ketelaere didn't see any action. 

Sergiño Dest was an unused sub in the USA's 7-1 thrashing of Grenada, which has sent them through to the next Gold Cup Finals. It was the same for Devis Vásquez, who watched his Colombia teammates draw with South Korea in a friendly. Belgium's Under 21s drew 0-0 against their counterparts from the Czech Republic, again in a friendly, with Aster Vranckx captaining the side until half-time. 

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