After the 1-0 victory against Germany for the start of his Euro, Didier Deschamps praised this Tuesday evening after the meeting the state of mind of his Blues.
Have you largely dominated Germany?
DIDIER DESCHAMPS.
No, still.
We had a great German team in front of us.
She made us suffer but we were more efficient.
We could have taken shelter to be quieter.
The players responded, it was a titanic fight, a very, very high level fight.
We were united when we had to suffer against a very good German team.
Did you find the same hunger as in 2018?
The group knows each other.
The defensive block was the same.
Hugo (Loris), Paul (Pogba), N'Golo (Kanté) were already there.
Not Adrien (Rabiot).
There was Samuel Umtiti too.
There are automatisms without dissociating the attacking trio which made a lot of efforts.
Football is about being efficient and we have been on both sides.
We didn't give anything, we didn't commit irremediable mistakes.
The group had to be ready and it was ready.
We must keep this collective strength, it is the solid base.
We were waiting for the attack and we saw the defense ...
I know what they can do.
I didn't have any concerns.
We were not put in difficulty.
Up front, the trio could have scored goals but they were canceled.
They allowed to defend.
We are not going to win by defending but the quality is there and the Germans have imposed such a fight on us, such a density.
The three, I do not dissociate them from the other seven.
They put themselves at the service of the collective.
We also found the real Raphaël Varane ...
The truth ?
Varane is still in good shape.
Since they are together, with Presnel (Kimpembe), they have already delivered very high level performances.
They are not novices, they are very efficient, complementary, with automatisms.
They understand each other very well with the two full-backs by their side, Benjamin (Parvard) and Lucas (Hernandez).
What were the instructions for the two circles, Rabiot and Pogba?
We had to control and impose ourselves on the opponent.
They are complete but I cannot dissociate them from Ngolo (Kanté).
They keep the ball, get the ball out, throw themselves even though they've been more in the defensive field today.
It's a good balance.
Were you reassured by the physical condition of your troops?
I was not worried.
I knew they were ready.
We did everything we thought we would do to get the whole group ready today.
Faced with such an opponent, if we had been below, I would not tell you the same thing.
On the sidelines of the match, there was this incident with Greenpeace ...
I thought it was planned. We came close to the drama. It could have been much more serious. I have a little bump because I hit the top of the bench. It doesn't have to be. It will remain literature. We should put things into perspective, have restraint in everything we can say and do, even if there is a lot of passion around football.
