Ahead of the France vs. England match, French assistant coach Stefan gave an interview to beIN SPORTS.
Guy, it's finally the last match. How are you feeling now?
I feel great, and I slept well. Of course, I'd prefer to be here tomorrow, not today. But since we're here now, we have to give it our all to get third place. Actually, quite a few teams, you could say many teams, would love to be here today, like Germany, the Netherlands, and Brazil.
Are you trying to avoid talking about yourself?
No, I just wanted to provide some background information and put this match within the broader context of the tournament. Recently, I've heard and seen some voices suggesting that France shouldn't be ranked this low. It's true, we had a chance to play tomorrow, but we're playing today to compete for third and fourth place. This World Cup started with 48 teams, so getting this far is no easy feat.
Was Did Didier Deschamps' speech before departure particularly significant?
Yes, of course, because this is the last time. Both the form and the content were incredibly moving. However, we cannot let these emotions affect us now. There's still one more match to play, and we must strive to win it, and more importantly, play a fantastic game so we can end this tournament with a smile.
Compared to the semi-finals, there were seven changes to the starting lineup for this match. How did you determine this lineup? What factors were the main considerations?
First, some players have been with the team since the start of the tournament, but haven't had many opportunities to play. They've trained diligently and maintained excellent form, so they also deserve playing time. Additionally, some players are unfortunately unavailable today due to injuries. Therefore, in selecting the lineup, we considered players with limited playing time, those currently in good physical condition, and players on the bench, hoping to ultimately create a smooth-running team.
In any case, I hope you enjoy this last match, Guy.
Thanks.
