Well, not so much thump, as trundle to a narrow win... The French were very good in the first half, where they played at a high tempo, but seemed to switch off in the second and settle for a 1-0 win. No doubt they could've gone up the gears if they needed to, had Peru scored, but they just cruised it.
Peru are another one of those teams who 'flatter to deceive'. Lots of endeavour, coupled with some skill, but simply don't have enough threat in the final third, or are clinical enough in the penalty box, to punish teams. Great fans, and they gave it a good go, but ultimately were a little short of quality to make an impact.
France still haven't got properly going yet, but they've still shown enough for me to consider them as one of the potential winners, particularly their mental toughness and tournament mentality, enabling them to win matches whilst not being at their best, which is a trait of all the best teams.
I haven't watched the Denmark vs. Australia game yet (got it recorded) so will comment on that later. However, as predicted it was tight and Denmark didn't win!
Now, let's hope we get a cracker between Argentina and Croatia... Come on Modric and co!
Marco.