July 2 – French coach Didier Deschamps praised his team after Monday’s 1-0 win over Belgium which took them into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 and continued to shrug off criticism about their profligacy in front of goal.
The 2022 World Cup runners-up edged their neighbours thanks to a late own goal in Dusseldorf and have still not scored a single goal in open play.
“We have been playing against teams who are used to having more possession but we have made lots of progress in that regard and our opponents are more wary of us now,” said Deschamps whose team set up a mouth-watering tie with Portugal.
“Belgium looked quite attacking on paper in their set-up today but they were prudent in the way they played. We did everything today to attack and create chances. We also needed to be intelligent and wary, to not fall into the trap of giving them the spaces they wanted. It is not what wins you the match but it is better to have the ball and make your opponents defend. “
France had 20 attempts on goal to just six for Belgium, but their finishing again let them down. Excluding own goals, France have not scored from any of their 66 non-penalty shots at Euro 2024.
This is Deschamps’ sixth major tournament as coach, and France have now reached at least the quarter-finals five times, the one exception being the last Euros three years ago, when they went out in the last 16 on penalties to Switzerland.
“We managed to create more chances than Belgium did, but we were also maybe on the back foot,” said Deschamps. “We were intelligent, we were playing the waiting game.”
“Obviously, you can’t win games just through possession, The number of shots we had, that’s probably the only thing that I want to work on. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve been able to do, and we’re into the quarter-finals, and that’s probably what counts.”
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