The French coach, Didier Deschamps, already began to think about the final on Sunday against Argentina in the World Cup in Qatar and advanced that his team will have as mission “limit as much as possible” the influence of Lionel Messi in the game.
“Messi is really shining from the start of the competition”Deschamps stressed in the press conference after the 2-0 victory over Morocco in the semifinals.
“He’s touching a lot of balls, he’s really good. He’s one of the best in the world for a reason. An anti-Messi plan? We are going to try to limit his influence as much as possible, as the Argentines are going to do to limit the influence of some of my players,” he said.
Deschamps celebrated the victory against the Moroccans, in a match in which the current world champions suffered, by not achieving the second goal until minute 79.
“It’s always a great pride to get the results you want. This qualification is the last stage to reach the final on Sunday. It has not been easy, but there is this mixture of quality, experience, conquering spirit, even in difficult moments. As a coach, I always feel proud of the players. I don’t think especially about myself, but above all about them,” he said.
Deschamps was also asked about rumors of a ‘mystery virus’ in the France camp. Speculation ran high after Adrien Rabiot stayed at the hotel and Dayot Upamecano on the bench.
“It does not make us anxious. You (the journalists) are also in Doha, the temperatures have dropped and you must also have the air conditioning on full blast. They are feverish pictures, we are all careful. Players who exert themselves enormously have weaker immune defenses,” he explained.
“Organisms can be more sensitive to anything that can be viral. Without thinking about other things. We take precautions and adapt. Everything that is viral is transmissible. Without getting paranoid, we have taken precautions with Dayot so that he had no contact. With Adrien (Rabiot) too,” he explained.
– “One step missing” –
Before his speech at the press conference, Deschamps had spoken for French television TF1, just after the match.
“There is an emotion, a pride. Obviously today was an important step, but one more is missing. We’ve been together for a month, it’s never easy, but it’s there (the possibility of winning),” the coach said then.
Deschamps, 54, highlighted the performance of his team, which against Argentina has the chance to win their second Consecutive World Cup, after the rise in Russia 2018.
“So far it has been a great happiness and my players have been rewarded, as well as the whole group”, stressed.
After qualifying for their fourth World Cup final (1998, 2006, 2018, 2022), the members of France agreed in their post-match statements in alluding to Argentina and Messi, showing that they are already focused on the tough adversary that awaits them on Sunday.
