France vs Croatia - Deschamps tells France to postpone euphoria and focus on three Cs

Posted Sunday, July 15, 2018 by PA

France coach Didier Deschamps will tell his young side to focus on Croatia and three other Cs when they meet in Sunday’s World Cup final: calmness, confidence and concentration.

Deschamps was France’s World Cup-winning captain in 1998 but experienced the disappointment of seeing his side lose on home turf in the final of the European Championship in 2016.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of Russia 2018’s finale, the 49-year-old said: “It is a pleasure and a privilege to be here and I will tell my players there is nothing more beautiful for a player than the World Cup final. But I will say three important words: stay calm, have confidence and concentrate.”

Deschamps, who has the chance to join Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer as World Cup winners as players and coaches, said his team felt “satisfaction, not euphoria” at being in the final, as they were focusing on the biggest game of their lives and wanted that “result to talk for itself”.

Asked what mental scars his players might have after their Euro 2016 defeat by Portugal, Deschamps pointed out that 14 of his squad are new and the nine who were in Paris two years ago “will know what happened, which can only serve us well here”.

On the challenge Croatia’s canny midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic will pose France at the Luzhniki Stadium, Deschamps said: “Yes, it’s true Croatia has players with strong club experiences and who have reached a level of maturity on the pitch together, but we have met teams with more experience than us all through the tournament.”

And he added that Modric and Rakitic, although they have “great intelligence and influence”, cannot hurt you on their own in the way an Eden Hazard or Lionel Messi can but failed to do in France’s run to the final, as Croatia’s star duo are “midfielders, not true strikers”.

The 21st World Cup final kicks off at 4pm British time and will be France’s third appearance on this stage in 20 years, while Croatia’s best result is the third-place finish they achieved in the same 1998 edition of the tournament that France won.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic is unconcerned by the extra minutes played by his team.

Croatia needed extra-time and penalties to beat both Denmark and Russia, while Mario Mandzukic’s extra-time winner gave them victory over England in the semi-final.

By contrast, France advanced through the knockout stages with victories over Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium all in normal time.

Dalic told a press conference: “Tomorrow is the World Cup final. Simply the players know what that is. One thing that brings me happiness is that all my players tell whether they are not 100 per cent fit.

“We have a such a good relationship that they will concede and say that I am not fit, I’m going to miss the final.

“They know what is at stake in the final, how great it is to play in the final. But if they will be unable to give their all, they will tell us.

“I expect them to do so, they need to have such an attitude.”