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France focus on World Cup glory, spurred on by 2016 Euro pain
MOSCOW, July 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – France fine-tuned their preparations for
the World Cup final against Croatia on Friday, desperate to overcome the
bitter disappointment of losing the Euro 2016 final as FIFA declared Russia
2018 the best-ever tournament.
Didier Deschamps’ team are firm favourites to win Sunday’s showpiece in
Moscow and become world champions for the second time — 20 years after their
first triumph in 1998.
But they will come up against a hungry Croatia side boasting one of the
players of the tournament in Real Madrid star Luka Modric, who is desperate
to win the trophy for the nation of just over four million people.
France failed to click in the group stages but they have gone up through
the gears during the knockout rounds and look a formidable blend of youthful
vitality and experience.
They will approach the match at the 80,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium full
of confidence and with the pain of losing the final of Euro 2016 on home soil
to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal spurring them on.
“The tears have dried from Euro 2016 but it’s still there in a little
corner of people’s minds,” said midfielder Blaise Matuidi on Friday.
“It will be useful for us on Sunday, even if I don’t like to keep bringing
up the past. It will serve as a lesson to us and it means we know what it is
to play in a final.
“We’ll approach it differently and hope that we play really well and win
it. It’s up to us to put everything into place to achieve our dream of
lifting the World Cup.”
Deschamps’ team are packed with attacking stars such as Kylian Mbappe and
Antoine Griezmann but it is their defence that has shone in the past two
rounds, not conceding a single goal.
Croatia — the smallest nation to make it to the final since Uruguay in
1950 — have battled through three periods of extra-time to reach the final.
That means they have played the equivalent of a whole extra match more than
France.
But coach Zlatko Dalic said there would be no excuses despite their
exertions.
“We prepared to get to the final and we want to play it,” he said. “Going
to extra-time might be a problem along with the fact France have had an extra
day to recover but there will be no excuses.”
As the tournament drifts towards its end, FIFA president Gianni Infantino
declared it the best ever.
“I was saying this would be the best World Cup ever. Today I can say it
with more conviction… it is the best World Cup,” Infantino said in Moscow.
More than one million foreign fans have visited Russia during the World
Cup, according to FIFA figures.
“A lot of pre-conceived ideas have changed thanks to this World Cup,” said
Infantino.
“Everyone has discovered a beautiful country, a welcoming country, full of
people keen to show to the world what maybe sometimes is said is not what
happens here.”
He also said the use of the VAR (video assistant referee) had been a
success and praised the quality of the football, with just a single 0-0 draw
in 62 games so far.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pour onto the streets of
Paris at the weekend, 20 years on from the 1998 win on home soil, when
Deschamps was captain of the side.
A security operation swung into full gear, with plans for 110,000 law
enforcement officers to be deployed across France as the country celebrates
the national Bastille Day holiday and the World Cup final.
“Everything is being done so the French can live these festive moments with
peace of mind, despite the terrorist threat which remains at a high level,”
Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said.
Before the final, England will play Belgium in a low-key battle for third
place in Saint Petersburg on Saturday.
Gareth Southgate said his young team, who were just 22 minutes from
reaching the final before Croatia’s impressive comeback in the semi-final,
would have to learn from their bitter disappointment.
“The team will be better in a couple of years,” Southgate said in comments
to the British press. “We have to build. We have some good young players
coming through. We’ve had success at youth level.
“What we’ve done over the last few weeks has shown what is possible. We
want to be in semi-finals and finals and we’ve shown to ourselves that can
happen.
“Now we have to use it as a springboard to reach the latter stages of
tournaments consistently.”
BSS/AFP/SG/ARS/1817 hrs