Behind the smile and the teasing, despite a bright sun and a temperature to make some July vacationers jealous, Didier Deschamps had a message to get across this Monday. In his impeccable white tracksuit from the selection, his complexion tanned by the last days spent on the Côte d’Azur, his place of residence, the boss of the vice-world champions, usually reluctant to hold a decided position, does not is not deprived of setting its priorities for this international comeback.
“There’s only one game that matters, it’s Thursday against Ireland. Do not think that with twelve points out of twelve (in four qualifying matches), it is already settled. “A clear, clean and precise speech which relegates to the background the usually symbolic, but friendly poster, against Germany scheduled for next Tuesday in Dortmund. Experienced in the art of handling rhetoric, Deschamps knows that by holding this speech, he sets a clear roadmap for a group of which he expects seriousness and requirement. Clairefontaine and its tunes of an extension of a great vacation will be able to come back. Place to work and nothing else.
A way for him also to calm the ardor of his proteges, if some thought they were already qualified for Euro 2024 (June 14-July 14). From a strictly accounting point of view, the affair is damn well underway since with a six-point lead over Greece (one match less) and nine over the Irish (beaten 0-1 in Dublin last March) as well as than the Netherlands (two games less), the Blues prance in the lead. A victory Thursday evening in a sold-out Parc des Princes would send the vice-world champions a little further towards the German Euro next June. Especially, when we recall, without arrogance, that the first two of the group will validate their ticket for a European championship synonymous with bad memories within the French contingent (elimination in the round of 16 against Switzerland in 2021).
Deschamps knows it, and despite the beautiful atmosphere at the castle, the radiant sun of the first days of September or the presence of Thierry Henry a stone’s throw away in the suit of Espoirs coach, who rekindles the flame of 1998, the holiday page is definitely turned. In a ten-day rally where the training sessions will mainly resemble fitness sessions to avoid breakage, the staff of the Blues will rely on their hard core to guide a France team sure of their strength. Well aware that the news of the week will focus on the explosive clash between the Blues of rugby and the New Zealand myth (“I can’t wait to see that”), Deschamps also knows better than anyone that a disappointment in the face of modest Irish (53rd nation in the world between the Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia) would be a task in the table for the perfect moment of a qualifying campaign managed with ease and determination.
Hence the need this Monday to recall the obvious. And to expect to do as well, if not better, during the meeting at the Park. With a Mbappé on fire at PSG (5 goals in 3 games), just like Griezmann and Giroud (4 goals in 3 games) in Madrid and Milan, to name a few, there is no shortage of promises of seriousness and spectacle. Roll on Thursday.
