Didier Deschamps on Les Bleus’ World Cup run: “The best cement to make all of this happen is results.” | OneFootball

France’s win over England may have not been done in the fashion of the beautiful game, but it can also be said that is not always what every match calls for. In 2018, France was criticized on how they finished the game against Belgium, but what is more remembered about that year is France lifting the World Cup trophy. Didier Deschamps is on a historic run with Les Bleus. If he is able to navigate his team to their second World Cup victory in a row France will be amongst the great national teams in history.

Deschamps was asked in a post match press conference if he saw any similarities between this team and the team that won in 2018, “There is a force there, but above all it depends on the results. The game before was to switch to flip the switch. Today is even more meaningful. Of course there are many things that emerge, that materialize. We must not lose that, but we must not take ourselves for what we are not either. You have to keep humility”

Deschamps is a coach who knows how to navigate a match and win, but it also takes every player being on the same page. With the amount of injuries France have had it would have been difficult for any team to get this far in the competition without great resilience.

“I am very proud of this group, for all the moments we spend together on a daily basis. It pleases me to see them like this. And the best cement to make all of this happen is results, qualifications. The quality is not enough, in this group there is also the mind, and perhaps also a little experience. I have young players, there is a collective strength that emerged from the start. It always comes down to a few things at this level. To have rocked the match like that and to have resisted until the end, there is a need for that in a World Cup.”

With the chance of a repeat in reach it is only normal to dream about joining the ranks of the great national teams of the past. However, Deschamps is keeping the idea of winning this year in focus and not overlooking the next match against Morocco. “We’re half way there, we’re not going to see each other at the end. We are getting closer, but the next stage, it is very important for us to believe. To do so, we have to get past Wednesday (against Morocco). We will be satisfied with what we have done, but not content with it. The history of the title holders has been rather negative so far, we can be satisfied if we reverse the trend. That would be a very good thing, but there is still an important step to take on Wednesday. Few people could expect Morocco in the semi-finals of the World Cup. But from what they’ve done, it’s no longer a surprise. They deserve to be here. Like us, they will have the opportunity to play for their place in the final. It is their merit, no one can take it away from them.”