The Euro is a month away now.

A few days (May 18) to deliver his list of 26 players selected to compete in the competition, Didier Deschamps gave an interview to AFP in which he evokes the chances of doubling the France team.

The reigning world champions are among the favorites in the continental tournament, but feature in an extremely tough group in the first round with Germany, Portugal and Hungary.

"Other nations do not sleep"

“Two years at the highest level is enormous, even if in life, it is not much… The wait is obviously important because of the success that we have had.

This is the objective of this group, of this generation, replied Deschamps.

We will not be able to take away what we have done, it is indelible, but we must tell ourselves that it does not stop, that there are other things to go and find.

"

Winning titles, “it doesn't happen with the snap of your fingers.

The other nations are progressing, working, they are not sleeping.

The ambition must be there.

When you start a competition, you want to go as far as possible, ”says the former captain of the Blues, winner of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 when he was a player.

“It's very, very difficult to get to the very top level. But it's even more difficult to stay there. It takes questioning. We cannot be higher, the quality is there, but sometimes it is also a few things ”, relativizes Deschamps.

Since the 2018 World Cup, the Blues have known only three defeats in twenty-eight games, despite tactical changes made in the fall to expand the team's palette.

The 4-4-2 pattern that made the French strong in Russia has sometimes been put aside.

“Now was the time to do it.

It gives me more answers, but no more certainties.

In football, there are none, they are quickly swept away.

I have convictions, I know what we do well, we have automatisms that have led us to a result.

We can rely on that, but it does not mean that it will repeat itself, ”develops the 52-year-old technician.

Beginning of the internship on May 26

For his 100th selection on the French bench, in November 2019 in Tirana (2-0 victory against Albania), Deschamps, for example, set up an unprecedented three-way defense.

"I felt that it was the moment to shake up (the habits)", he answers, praising "the capacity and the intelligence" of the players at his disposal.

"It is not all to surprise the adversary, one should not surprise oneself", he continues, evoking "always decisions taken in relation to a group, a situation, an adversary".

The Blues' preparation camp will begin on May 26 at the Clairefontaine training center, before two friendly matches against Wales, on June 2 in Nice, then Bulgaria on June 8 at the Stade de France.

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  • Euro 2021

  • Sport

  • Didier Deschamps

  • French football team

  • Soccer