Dika Mem (right back of the French team, after the draw against Switzerland 26-26 on the 2nd day of the group stage): “It’s not a defeat, but we consider it a defeat, because we weren’t expecting that at all tonight. I don’t want to devalue the Swiss game, they played well, they had a lot of saves, and we were less good than usual, but that’s part of the game. We’re still alive, so it’s there’s no problem (…) That doesn’t worry me, obviously it’s going to be harder (Tuesday against Germany, Editor’s note), because we’re playing a home team, but we have the used to these matches. We did it last year in Sweden (beaten by the Blues in the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup, Editor’s note).”
Guillaume Gille, coach of the Blues: “Our difficulties are linked to the passing quality of Andy Schmid, who is still a special player at this level. He has a quality of releasing the ball which is quite particular. There aren’t many guys playing like that. Even if, of course, we were aware of this type of pass and his way of playing, we inevitably noticed that we had a lot of difficulty stopping him and making his ratio lower (…) In this match, we never managed to get the ball rolling. I have the impression that we have always been looking for our rhythm. And this lack of rhythm, perhaps it costs us a slightly easier victory in the end.
Ludovic Fabregas, center of the Blues: “It’s a shame to only have taken one point. But again, is that a point lost or a point gained? We’ll know when we do the accounts. And it all depends on what we can produce in two days against Germany. If it can be a wake-up call and get us started, that would be all the better. If this is the start of something that creaks a little, that would be damaging.”
