France have scored for the first time from open play, without friendly fire or penalty kicks, after 489 minutes of the European Football Championship (Euro 2024), currently being held in Germany, and their star player, Kylian Mbappe, has finally gotten rid of the face mask that has bothered him so much.
But it was all in vain as the French team was eliminated from the semi-finals of the tournament, after losing 1-2 to its Spanish counterpart, at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Despite the French team taking the lead with a header from its star Randal Kolo Muani in the ninth minute, the Spanish team turned the tables on its opponent, after Lamine Yamal (17 years old) scored the equalizer, while Dani Olmo added the second goal for the Spanish matador.
Thus, the French national team failed to reach the final for the fourth consecutive time, whether in the European Nations or the World Cup, during the last eight years, while its coach, Didier Deschamps, was unable to win the European title as a coach after having previously won it as a player in 2000.
Deschamps previously won the World Cup as a player in 1998 and as a coach in 2018.
Deschamps came close to winning the European Nations Cup as a coach, when France reached the final of the 2016 tournament, which it hosted, but lost 0-1 to Portugal.
“We were able to score the opening goal, which was fantastic,” Deschamps said after the defeat to Spain. “However, Spain dominated the game. We didn’t play well, we didn’t play the way I wanted.”
The recent period witnessed a change in the leadership of the French Football Federation, and the legend of the “Roosters” national team and former coach of Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, is still available, as long-time observers see him as a successor to Deschamps.
Deschamps refused to comment on the matter, simply saying: “I just lost the semi-finals of the European Championship. Ask my president. I will not answer that question.”
The French national team reached the semi-finals for the fourth time in the European Nations or the World Cup in the last 8 years, after scoring only 3 goals during its journey in Euro 2024, with a penalty kick scored by its captain Kylian Mbappe, in addition to two own goals scored by opposing players.
France’s strength during the current tournament was its defence, which conceded only one goal from a penalty kick during the team’s 1-1 draw with Poland in the group stage, during its last five matches in the tournament.
France conceded two goals against Spain on Tuesday, while Les Bleus failed to score enough to at least equalise and send the match into extra time.
“You have to be as relaxed as possible and score. That’s what we lacked. However, we qualified for the semi-finals and found a way to score, thanks to Kolo. It would have been better if we had kept the same quality as before,” Deschamps stressed.
For his part, striker Antoine Griezmann, who came on as a substitute in the match, said: “We are all upset and disappointed. Defensively, we were very good throughout the competition, but offensively, we wasted many chances and that hurt us.”
Deschamps praised Spain as a “great team” who “were better on the ball” that night.
Deschamps expressed his optimism about his team’s future, despite the retirement of veteran striker Olivier Giroud, the French national team’s all-time top scorer, who participated in the final minutes of the match against Spain from the bench.
“We have a lot of young players in our team, which will help us in the future,” said Deschamps, who is now preparing to lead France in the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
Griezmann agreed with his coach, vowing: “We will be back.”
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