Odsonne Edouard, more affectionately known to the Celtic support s “French Eddie”, was the toast of France last night. Edouard scored two goals for France in the u21 match against Switzerland to help the side qualify for the u21 Euro 2020.
French national newspaper L’Equip was lavish in its praise for the big Celtic striker:
“More enterprising, more aggressive, more dangerous in the wake of a – once again – formidable Odsonne Edouard”
“Odsonne Edouard is in the process of marking his time with the Hopes. Against Switzerland, the striker shone again, a habit since his debut with Sylvain Ripoll’s team.”
“Edouard…displays impressive statistics: in 10 matches with the Espoirs, he has scored 15 goals. He shares the lead in the scorers standings in these qualifications (11 goals) with the Englishman Eddie Nketiah.”
“It is still too early to know if he will be so brilliant with the top team, but one thing is certain – Odsonne Edouard is in the process of marking his time with the Under-21s”
Edouard broke a fifteen year scoring record set, ironically, by his ex Celtic team mate Moussa Dembele by scoring his fifteenth international goal, to join Florian Maurice as the top scorer in Les Espoirs history.
The French youngsters needed to win by two clear goals against the Swiss under 21’s and were well on track as Edouards double in the 18th and 23rd minute looked as though he had sent his country through, but a goal in the 88th minute by Imeri almost saw the dream die until Kolo tucked one away in the 92nd minute to send the French through.
Edouard has struggled with form for Celtic this season so boss, Neil Lennon, will be hoping this will kick start the Frenchman’s season to help the Hoops march towards their tenth title in a row.