“I’m not disappointed, sincerely not at all” - Didier Deschamps makes huge admission after France fail to become group winners at Euro 2024
France manager Didier Deschamps admitted that his team deserved to finish second in Group D after their 1-1 draw against Poland at Euro 2024 on Tuesday (June 25). With Austria winning their final group game against the Netherlands, Les Bleus finished a point behind the Austrians in the group.
Kylian Mbappe scored his team's only goal of the game, which came from the spot. This means that the French are to score from open play in the tournament.
Speaking after the game, Deschamps said (via Mirror):
"I'm not disappointed, sincerely not at all. We did what we needed to do, we created a lot of chances and led in the game. We tried until the end. We are where we want to be. We were in a very difficult group: Austria lost against us and won against the Netherlands. We deserved to be second."
"It's a new competition in the last 16. Obviously it's something that we need to improve, to score more goals. But I would have been more worried if we had less chances to score to be honest," he added.
Overall, France took 19 shots in their game and found the target on eight occasions. They kept 58 percent ball possession but did not manage to score from open play.
With main man Mbappe back in starting XI after missing his team's match against the Netherlands, the French will be hoping for more goals in the games to come.
France manager on Kylian Mbappe's return while wearing mask in Euro 2024
Kylian Mbappe suffered a broken nose in France's Euro 2024 opener against Austria. Les Bleus ended up winning that contest 1-0 but lost Mbappe towards the latter stages that night.
On returning to the starting line-up, Mbappe had to wear protective gear on his face. Reacting to what he thought about the attacker's performance, Didier Deschamps said (via Mirror):
"I thought he was quite good on his feet but with his mask he needs to get used to it. When he sweats it stings in his eyes and he needs to wipe his eyes but he is always so keen to play the game will do him good."
Mbappe's return will be a huge boost to France, after a season that saw him bag 44 goals across all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain. To date, he's played 81 matches across competitions for the national team, bagging 48 goals.