Inaugurated on September 22nd last year, the Allianz Riviera becomes “international,” less than a year after its launch, by hosting the France-Paraguay football match which will be played tonight at 9 PM in the Nice arena.
It is a great satisfaction for the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, who is the putative father of this arena. Moreover, beyond the friendly nature of the meeting, it is the first time that the French national football team will play an official match in Nice.
A first that follows another.
And, while it is already known that for the occasion of Euro 2016, the Var plain venue will host four matches, three group stage matches and a round of 16, another appearance by the Blues will not happen any time soon.
However, after soccer, we might see another national team in a few months: the Blues of the French Rugby Union team. A request has been submitted to the FFR to host the test match, France-Fiji, scheduled for November 8th.
We can only hope that the bouncing of the oval ball will be favorable to the Nice venue. Nothing is certain yet, but the rugby federation is carefully studying the proposal.
But for now, let’s focus on tonight’s match, which will give the coach one last chance to review the team before leaving for Brazil for the World Cup.
The opponent, Paraguay, is not a Triple A team, but the match remains interesting, and the Nice supporters will certainly fill the beautiful stands of the Allianz Arena.
A reminder: Paraguay finished last in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers in the South America zone (3 wins, 3 draws, 10 losses). It’s the first time since 1994 that Albirroja will miss a World Cup.
