The technical commissioner of France, Didier Deschampsspoke to journalists after the 1-1 draw against Poland. An indigestible result that determined the second place finish for the French in Group D, on the left side of the draw for the European Championships’ direct elimination matches. The coach said that “we must appreciate what France has done”, the first statements collected by AS.
On the performance of Kylian Mbappe, who scored from a penalty in the 56th minute: “It was difficult for him not to play between the first and third games. I found him doing well, he’s adapting to the mask,” explained Deschamps. There failure to top the groupwon instead by Austria (after the 3-2 triumph over the Netherlands), is to be considered as a failure? The French coach’s response was quick: “You can interpret failure however you want. Playing on the ground and at speed was today’s objective. That’s why we wanted to be fast. We always try to do so. The goalkeeper made three good saves. We have to improve in attack. This is football. We create chances and we score goals.
On the choice to leave on the bench Griezmann to send Barcola onto the field: “Why was he replaced? Because I’m the coach. I could have used another player in his place and changed the positioning. It’s the option I decided from the beginning. There’s no need to interpret nothing. I think there are only eight players who played the whole match. I don’t adapt to the opponent, but I try to field the most dangerous team compared to the opponent. Today Barcola, Mbappé and Dembélé were the speed compared to temperament”.