The confidences of Didier Deschamps: "The status of world champion is heavy"

Cyrille de la Morinerie 8:20 p.m., December 17, 2021

INTERVIEW

Europe 1 was able to meet with the coach of the France football team, Didier Deschamps.

The latter agreed to deliver some confidences.

In an exceptional interview, Didier Deschamps spoke of Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema and the World Cup in Qatar which begins in a year (from November 21 to December 18, 2022).

Despite the elimination of the Blues in the round of 16 of Euro 2020, he draws a positive balance for the year 2021.

Did you, Didier Deschamps, ever doubt?

Did you say to yourself: We are going into the wall? 

No, I cannot doubt. If I want to transmit, the worst thing would be to doubt. I know football too well. Anything can happen very quickly. Now, I will not hide from you that I prefer that we be in control and that we do not find ourselves in these situations. The match against Belgium (3-2, October 7) proves that this French team has, beyond quality and talent, a state of mind and this ability to compete, and, being in full swing possession of its means, to win another title. The year has been very rich, since there has never been a year in which we had so many goals. We had three, so, as you know, it's factual. We have reached two, namely the qualification for the next World Cup which is something vital for French football. And then,a new title through the League of Nations. With in the middle, that is to say this summer, a premature elimination of the Euro which brought a lot of disappointment, but which did not prevent the France team from bouncing well or very well bouncing back the following months .

Karim Benzema was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence in the sextape case. The attacker appealed. Are you going to select it again?

I have always taken a firm stance on this. A court decision cannot be commented on and it must be accepted. From the moment Karim has decided to appeal, this appeal is suspensive. So we will have to wait for the court decision. Already, on the first decision, it took a lot, a lot, a lot of time. I'm not going to say too long, but it took a long time. From the moment he decided to appeal, it is because he finds this decision too hard and certainly unfair for him. So listen, you'll ask me the question in due course. But the situation is clear today. First, there is the position of the Federation and of my President, which is essential, namely that Karim is selectable. So from there it's still a selectable player.But since I don't have a selection to make before March, it's valid for everyone. 

"Kylian can do things out of the ordinary"

We will now talk about Kylian Mbappé.

Seven goals and four assists this season with the France team, it's an incredible year for him.

He panics the counters in terms of statistics and it is not over yet.

He is still young, but hey, he always had this requirement with himself.

Sometimes they can have a period when the effectiveness is less present.

But it can happen to him as it does to all players.

This was the case this summer.

But Kylian sets the bar so high every time (that it's hard to settle for the minimum).

When he puts on triplets, he is expected to put in every game too.

So he has this ability today, obviously gaining in maturity and experience, to do things that are outside the norm.

But so much the better, he is French.

I will not complain.

He only has six months of contract with PSG.

It is announced on the side of Real Madrid.

Did he ask you for your opinion? 

No.

Afterwards, I can chat with the players.

He has enough people around him who are there to advise him.

At most I can give an opinion but I am not in his place.

He is calm and serene about this situation.

But like many internationals, and not the least, who find themselves in this situation today at the end of their contract, they will have choices to make.

As they are at the end of their contract, they can do so as early as January or later. 

We are going to talk about the World Cup in Qatar.

You are qualified with this France team to go and defend your title.

This status of outgoing world champion is necessarily heavy.

When I look at the history of the title holders, it has not often gone well.

We will go with the competitive spirit and the ambition that must be ours.

And before we get there, obviously, we will have a lot of matches that will serve as preparation.

But unfortunately, here too, our aberration is that the championships stop eight days before the start of the World Cup.

Which means no prep, no friendlies.

We have to adapt.