Only one of three Arsenal players featured as Brazil comfortably saw off the French challenge to win 3-1 in an international friendly at the Stade de France. Olivier Giroud came off the bench late on for France but defenders Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel Paulista were un-used substitutes.
Despite losing, it was France who opened the scoring. Varane rose the highest from a Valbuena corner to head home midway through the first-half. However Oscar scored the equaliser five minutes before the break after a well worked build-up ended up with Firmino finding the Chelsea man, who squirmed the ball under Mandanda. Neymar grabbed Brazil's second goal just before the hour mark, beating the French 'keeper at his near post for his eighth goal in his last seven internationals. Former Arsenal target Luis Gustavo then grabbed just his second international goal from a Willian corner after poor France defending to complete the win.
As far as Arsenal are concerned only Olivier Giroud played though. As much as Arsenal fans would like to see their player's performing well on the world stage, it can be argued that them not featuring is good. Especially with crucial games to come in the league, Arsene Wenger could do with players returning from the international break fit. Giroud's part in the match only lasted seven minutes though, replacing Blaise Matuidi with little time left in the game. He therefore didn't have sufficient time to have an impact on the game and didn't have a chance to express himself. It was, however, Giroud's first appearance for France since the World Cup quarter-finals due to the injury he received earlier in the season. The tall striker will perhaps be a little disappointed not to have started, especially if you consider his club form. He did show one or two good touches in the final third though, but overall it was a disappointing night for the French.
Laurent Koscielny was on the substitutes bench and, after a lackadaisical defensive display from the hosts, he could well come in for Sakho in their next game. Recent new signing Gabriel had earned himself his first call-up to the Brazil squad but like Koscielny, he remained on the substitutes bench as Miranda and Thiago Silva were preferred to him in defence.
Despite only one Arsenal player featuring on the night, a few players linked with the Gunners played. One of which was Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin. He did well in the early exchanges of the game, displaying what he's done so well in the Premier League so far this season. Schneiderlin originally helped to stop Brazil finding space in midfield but as the game stretched gaps opened up and they proved too good for France. Moussa Sissoko and Blaise Matuidi, who have previously been linked to Arsenal, played alongside Scheniderlin in the France midfield whilst Kondogiba played a little cameo when he came on. He played brilliantly against Arsenal in Monaco's first leg Champions League win at the Emirates, so he could well be a man that Arsene Wenger targets in the summer.
Luis Gustavo was linked to the Emirates in the summer of 2013 before joining German side Wolfsburg and, as mentioned, he scored Brazil's final goal. Another player linked to Arsenal is Nabil Fekir and he was making his debut for France. He almost scored a consolation goal late on but fired inches wide in the closing stages.
Former Gunner Bacary Sagna started at right-back and showed signs of rustiness after suffering from a lack of game time at Manchester City this season. He had a poor night and that was shown in his inability to get close enough to Oscar as he was allowed to fire home Brazil's first goal.
There's been a lot of talk about how far this French side can go and they look as though they have a lot of potential. Tonight they were beaten by the better side but with a youthful squad full of plenty of depth they could be one of the favourites when it comes to Euro 2016, especially with home advantage. They showed signs of that in the first-half but Brazil proved too good with their quick attacking football. For Brazil, it was a very good result on French soil. Their side wasn't at full strength but as a nation they appear to be recovering from their thrashing at the hands of Germany at the World Cup. Next up for the French is Denmark on Sunday whilst Brazil play Chile at the Emirates Stadium on the same day.
As for other Arsenal internationals so far this week, Mesut Ozil captained Germany in the latter stages of their 2-2 draw with Australia last night. Lukas Podolski, currently on loan from Arsenal at Inter Milan, was the man to rescue a draw for the World Champions. Former Gunner Nicklas Bendtner meanwhile scored a hat-trick in a 3-2 win for Denmark over the USA. Alexis Sanchez came on at half-time tonight as his Chile side were surprisingly beaten 2-0 by Iran. David Ospina meanwhile kept a clean-sheet as Colombia beat Bahrain 6-0.