The French team and Hervé Renard leave this Nations League final groggy, lost to Spain on Wednesday evening (2-0) in Seville.
Stunned by the superiority of La Roja, the Bleues never existed.
The coach readily recognizes this and wishes to “persevere” with the aim of finally winning a title at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Do you agree that your team played a non-match?
HERVÉ RENARD.
I wouldn't say that.
We played against a world champion team that dominates world football.
From far away.
I really think so.
How do you explain this first catastrophic period?
Football is simple: you have to be aggressive without the ball and when you are able to recover it, you must not lose it immediately.
This evening, we lost it immediately because the opponent put pressure on us straight away.
You have difficulty solving all these equations.
We concede two goals with numerical superiority in the area.
It’s paradoxical… We made efforts.
It's not a question of lack of courage.
Do you think you have time to close the gap that separates you from Spain before the Olympic Games?
Everything is possible in football.
But as I said before, this team is number one in the world.
This is my humble opinion, from a very long way.
This will once again be the team to beat for the Olympic Games.
We will have to persevere, learn lessons, continue to move forward.
We took a step.
We didn't get past the second one.
There is still a lot of work.
The big quality of this team is technique.
I had the chance to play against Spain with Morocco during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
There was a midfielder made up of Iniesta, Isco and Busquets.
I had the impression of playing against the same opponents tonight.
“More determination was needed”
What is your assessment of this Nations League Final Four?
We must continue to work, find the solution if we are lucky enough to go far enough at the Olympics to beat Spain.
There will only be 12 teams, the level will be very tight.
All teams will have the same objective: to try to prevent Spain from winning a third consecutive title.
What did you say to your players at halftime?
That we were in a compact unit, not aggressive enough with the ball, that we needed more determination.
We left with a slight improvement.
But we concede a goal with 8 players in the area against two Spaniards... The goal of football is to create chances in the opponent's area.
We have never been able to put this Spanish team in danger.
Do you quickly want to reunite with your players and move forward in April?
You always have to question yourself.
Only the winner doesn't have a headache.
Others must persevere.
England are in the World Cup final and are not here tonight, nor at the Olympics.
You have to continue, persevere.
We are going to restart a new League of Nations.
We will wait for the draw to find out what is in store for us.
The competition is important since it qualifies us for Euro 2025. The disappointment will fade little by little.
We lost against those stronger than us and we have to start again.