Didier Deschamps Paul Pogba Antoine Griezmann Lucas Hernandez Karim Benzema Christopher Nkunku Eduardo Camavinga Kingsley Coman Randal Kolo Muani Marcus Thuram Qatar France Argentina Doha Didier Deschamps Paul Pogba Antoine Griezmann Lucas Hernandez Karim Benzema Christopher Nkunku Eduardo Camavinga Kingsley Coman Randal Kolo Muani Marcus Thuram Qatar France Argentina Doha

French hearts are broken but future looks bright

channelnewsasia.com

DOHA : France will be heartbroken after losing the World Cup final to Argentina in a penalty shootout but the genius of Kylian Mbappe and the depth of talent in the squad bode well for the future.France began the World Cup without Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema, striker Christopher Nkunku, midfielders Ngolo Kante and Paul Pogba and lost left back Lucas Hernandez in the first game and yet still reached the final, where they lost 4-2 on penalties after a spectacular 3-3 draw.Mbappe, who turns 24 on Tuesday, netted all three French goals, taking his tally from two World Cups to 12.All of his goals on Sunday came after coach Didier Deschamps sent on Randal Kolo Muani (24), Marcus Thuram (25), Eduardo Camavinga (20), and Kingsley Coman (26)."Potentially, this France team has an important reservoir of talents," said Deschamps."Before this tournament, we had a lot of players with little experience and they proved that they could play at the highest level.

There are also others who were not here but all of them will be able to feature in the next tournaments."We'll always need experienced team leaders to groom the young players but the reservoir is big."Deschamps, however, stressed that the collective mindset - which was beyond reproach in Qatar - would be just as important as talent."Now we have to shape up a squad so that on top of the players' qualities, we have the mindset," he explained."I was not worried about that before the tournament and I'm not worried about it now."France can probably count on Antoine Griezmann, 31, to link the generations."Some players have been in the Euro 2016 final, won the 2018 World Cup, they bring their experience.

Related News
Chelsea signed France international defender Benoit Badiashile from Ligue 1 side Monaco on Thursday for a fee believed to be just under 40 million euros ($42 million).
Bayern Munich full back Noussair Mazraoui will be sidelined after suffering from heart complications due to COVID-19 during his post-World Cup vacation, the Bundesliga club said on Friday (Jan 6).
PARIS: French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera on Friday accused Argentine players of being “inelegant winners” and “vulgar” for mocking her country’s star Kylian Mbappe after winning the World Cup final.“As much as our French team knew how to lose with panache, so the manner in which this Argentine team acted after this victory was not worthy of the match we saw,” the minister told French radio station RTL.Oudea-Castera singled out goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who was seen in the victory parade in Buenos Aires holding a baby doll its face covered with a photo of French star Mbappe.Immediately after the match had been heard in the Argentina changing room demanding: “A minute of silence... for Mbappe.”Mbappe scored a hat-trick as France twice fought back to take the game to a shootout and then beat Martinez with the opening kick.“I find it pitiful,” said Oudea-Castera.“It’s just vulgar, inappropriate, really not up to the occasion,” she said“This Emiliano Martinez is not distinguishing himself.
PARIS: France coach Didier Deschamps will meet with French soccer federation president Noel Le Graet next week to discuss a new contract.
The French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet said in an interview published on Thursday he wants France coach Didier Deschamps, whose current contract expires at the end of the year, to remain in the post.
Several members of the France team that lost to Argentina in the World Cup final were subjected to "hateful" racist abuse on social media, the French Football Federation (FFF) said on Tuesday, adding it intended to file a legal complaint.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.