MOSCOW -- Three quick thoughts from the World Cup's first 0-0 as France and Denmark played out a dull stalemate in Group C.
1. France, Denmark fails to spark
Mama said there'd be days like this -- it's just the format of the competition. France were already through and Denmark needed a point. With Australia falling behind in Sochi against Peru, this game was only ever going to turn into a low-intensity, above-all-do-no-harm type encounter. The 0-0 that followed was the first scoreless draw of the World Cup -- and we should probably be thankful that it comes after 36 games.
You can't really blame the two teams -- and to be fair, it wasn't exactly West Germany vs. Austria in 1982 -- but the crowd made its displeasure known. The wave started working its way around the Luzhniki Stadium earlier than usual, and there were both groans and then outright boos late in the second half, followed by a low grumble of disapproval at the final whistle.
Didier Deschamps sent on Kylian Mbappe and Nabil Fekir late in the second half, and business did pick up somewhat: if you wanted to be unkind, you might note that by this stage Australia were two goals down, and so it was reasonable for France to push a little bit harder. But it felt like the classic damp squib, end-of-group-game.
The good news? The next time we see these two teams in the knockout rounds, it's going to be sink or swim.
2. Deschamps' reserves don't take their chance
You can't blame Didier Deschamps for mixing things up. Les Bleus did their part in winning the first two group games and securing their spot in the round of 16, so why not spare those who were on a yellow card (Paul Pogba, Corentin Tolisso and Blaise Matuidi) while giving Hugo Lloris, Benjamin Pavard, Samuel Umtiti and Kylian Mbappe a breather?
Ultimately, Tuesday's game was a chance to give the rest of his deep squad -- some of whom had not played in several weeks -- the opportunity to play themselves into the side. Yet it's a chance few seized as France seemed to sleepwalk through much of the game. Other than a few flashes of Ousmane Dembele and a couple of sparks from Fekir after he came on, we saw very little and mostly had confirmation of what we already know, like the fact that a midfield of N'Golo Kante and Steven Nzonzi offers very little in terms of playmaking.
Most baffling, perhaps, is Antoine Griezmann. If the idea was to sharpen up his partnership with Olivier Giroud, then nope, we're not there yet. Griezmann hasn't lasted 90 minutes since May 3 (the Europa League semifinal against Arsenal) and hasn't played an entire match for France since last October.
The light can come on at any time with the Atletico forward, but Tuesday at the Luzhniki was mostly darkness.
3. Denmark try something new in midfield
Versatile players are a boon to nations like Denmark, where the pool of talent might be such that you're overstocked with quality at certain positions and thinner at others. Andreas Christensen played a whole range of positions as youth player at Chelsea (full-back, center-back, central midfield, holding midfield) and against France, Denmark coach Age Hareide used him as a sort of sweeper in front of the defence, deputized with picking up Griezmann when he dropped deep for the ball.
This allowed Denmark to put an extra passer in the middle of the park -- Christensen is excellent on the ball -- while inserting Mathias Jorgensen at the back alongside Simon Kjaer. It could be an option to revisit later in the tournament, depending on the opposition.