Appearing on French television channel TF1, as quoted by RMC, France coach Didier Deschamps explained Les Bleus’ World Cup final loss to Argentina in Qatar was hard to take but stated that the team “didn’t have all our strength for different reasons.”
Deschamps also expressed his “regrets” after France came back from 2-0 behind to equalise at 2-2 and again at 3-3 at the end of extra time, while admitting that, had France lost 3-0 – which seemed likely for long periods of the game – that anguish might not have been as great. “We didn’t do what we needed to do for an hour,” said the 54-year-old former Chelsea and Juventus player but praised his team’s “courage, energy and quality” in the final part of the game in which France “pushed Argentina to the limit.”
Despite an abject opening hour, the coach said that his team’s recovery was indicative of France’s World Cup and was characterised by “heart” as they came back “from nowhere.” However, he said, having come so close to winning, the loss was now “even harder to digest,” although the coach stated that “you have to accept it.”
Speaking on a pair of early changes, withdrawing Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembélé before halftime, Deschamps said he was “not satisfied” and was “convinced that we could do better”. However, the coach explained that didn’t mean that pair were more culpable than others but admitted France “didn’t have all our strength for different reasons, I won’t go into explanations.”
Adam White | GFFN
