International Friendly: French fry Norway 4-0

Two French players helped underscore their case to be starters in the World Cup this morning by helping France scored four unanswered goals against Norway in their international friendly this morning.

The Norwegians were unable to handle French winger Mathieu Valbuena, who had a hand in three of France's goals, Reuters reported.

The Marseille player provided a cross to midfielder Paul Pogba at the 15th minute.

Valbuena again played a vital part in France's second goal as it was his through pass which allowed striker Olivier Giroud to score his first goal in the 51st minute via an excellent volley.

Boomfa!

Giroud's performance this morning will go a long way to help him forget the past season's difficulties. 

 The 27-year-old had a rollercoaster season for his club side Arsenal. While he was able to score 16 goals in 36 appearance in the Premier League last season, they were mostly in the first half of the season - his extramarital affair with a model engulfed him in the second half of the season. 

He scored his second goal and France's fourth in the 68th minute via a header off another pinpoint Valbuena cross.  

Weakened French side

French coach Didier Deschamps rested several key players, but he was still able to field a relatively strong side to face Norway.

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and Franck Ribery were rested and Champions League winners Real Madrid's Raphael Varane and Karim Benzema were not available because they will only join the squad this Thursday.

Seven probable starters at the World Cup were in the line-up, with second-choice keeper Stephane Ruffier, centre back Laurent Koscielny, winger Antoine Griezmann and Giroud also included. 

Second-half substitute Loic Remy added another goal with a clinical finish after collecting Newcastle's Mathieu Debuchy’s defence-splitting pass. 

France will next head to Nice to take on Paraguay on Sunday before making the trip north for their last friendly before the World Cup against Jamaica in Lille on June 8.

They kick off their World Cup campaign against Honduras on July 15. 

Source: Reuters, AFP