France Coach, Didier Deschamps has noted among many other things that the illness which struck some of his players was responsible for their loss to Argentina in the final of the World Cup played on Sunday.
Although France were underwhelming throughout the first half and some part of the second half, the Les Blues reignited the touch of their resolve within the last ten minutes of the regulation time.
Kylian Mbappe canceled Argentina’s lead with a brace within a minute- scoring a penalty in the 80th minute and a perfect strike a minute later.
The French camp was struck with a virus ahead of the final, as Adrien Rabiot, Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman were forced to sit out the semi-final against Morocco through illness.
All three recovered to feature in the final, although Coman missed a crucial penalty for France in the shoot-out when the encounter was stretched to penalties after regulation and extra time.
“We utterly failed to show up in the 1st half. We expected (their intensity), we neither had the correct attitude nor the correct response”. Deschamps said.
He added “We didn’t turn up for different reasons (in the first 60 minutes). We have had to face difficult things in the last 4 days. Illness and then things collectively too.’
The gaffer also disclosed that he will have a meeting with the President of France football early 2023 to decide his future.
“You’re not first to ask. Even if we had won, I would not be able to answer that tonight. Of course, I am very sad for the players and staff, but I’ll have a meeting with the [French Football Federation] president at the start of next year and then you’ll find out.” he concluded.
