English
Doha: Didier Deschamps is standing two wins away from history. A world champion as as France captain in 1998, a world champion as France coach four years ago, the 54-year-old is standing on the cusp of history of becoming the second coach after Vittorio Pozzo (1930) to win back-to-back World Cups.
France will be playing Morocco at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday for a place in the final. The journey wasn’t smooth for Deschamps. Most importantly he had to create the right dynamic on and off the field. “I spend a lot of time with my staff, so I talk to my players collectively and individually,” Deschamps told FIFA.com.
“For me, the most important thing is to keep everyone within this dynamic, and to spend a lot of time with the players who don’t play,” added the France coach. Interestingly, France are the first defending champions after Brazil in 1998 to have reach the semifinals.
Deschamps is not only just a coach, but he is a players’ friend. “I spend a lot of time with my staff, so I talk to my players collectively and individually,” he added. “Sometimes we speak, other times we have meetings. We also have conversations during the day.
“I don’t have an office where I can welcome them one by one so we have a relationship built on trust, which is important to have between the players and me,” added Deschamps who played 103 international matches for the national team.
What Deschamps wants from his players, is efficiancy. “There are always important and crucial moments,” he said.
“Obviously when the team scores, but there are other moments when the team struggles, but you should be efficient.
“It’s a matter of efficiency in football. When we get into an offensive zone and also a defensive zone, a big team should be able to attack properly and defend properly.” The way France fought against England in the quarterfinal certainly shows how efficient they were as a team.
France’s semifinal opponents, Morocco, are the best defensive side in the tournament so far, conceding just a goal (that also an own goal). Deschamps thinks otherwise. “They’re a team that have defended pretty well, but they aren’t only defensive, otherwise they wouldn’t have reached the semi-finals.
“They also have some offensive tools, but [with] a defensive base, which is well-organised and very rational. With that they have skill because of attacking players like [Youssef] En-Nesyri, [Hakim] Ziyech or [Sofiane] Boufal, who can create problems for their opponents.
“They master their craft, just like any other big team that are in the semi-finals. They have the skill to defend very well, for sure. They defend properly. They’re certainly the best team in terms of defence though, as I said, they’re here because they can also score goals,” added Deschamps.
For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Sports News on India.com.
