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Adrien Rabiot has called on his France team-mates to pay tribute to outgoing coach Didier Deschamps by winning his final match on French soil when they host Northern Ireland on Monday.
The game, in front of a sell-out crowd of 50,000 in Lille, will serve as France’s final preparations for a World Cup in which they are among the favourites.
And it will be the last home match for Deschamps, who this July will end a 14-year spell as boss in which he has won both the World Cup and Nations League, as well as reaching the 2022 World Cup final.
While Deschamps said he was grateful Northern Ireland had agreed to take on this fixture when few others wanted it, Rabiot is keen to ensure only France are celebrating at the end of the night.
“I can’t imagine the state of mind of Didier after all this time spent with the French team,” Rabiot said through a translator. “We’re all human beings. We have compassion, we have emotions and everything that comes along with it.
“Coach has done a great job with the France team and I hope he will be celebrated, that we will celebrate him like we should because he deserves it. We should win it, it would be a good tribute.”
Deschamps already received extensive tributes on Thursday on his old stomping ground in Nantes – although the night ended in a 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast – but the 57-year-old said he was trying to focus on France’s bigger goals.
“There’s lots of things I’ve done for the last time, so I’m trying not to think about all these things,” he said. “The truth is, I’m not too sad, I’m not going to be happy about it.
“I thank everyone in Nantes, the tribute was nice, even though it was during the match and the players were playing and I was trying to be focused on what was happening on the field.
“But these two matches before we leave for the United States, being close to the supporters who are not able to go to the United States… we’re trying to get as much energy, trying to get as many positive vibes from the supporters as we can.”
In his own press conference, Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill said he wanted his side to be “badly-behaved guests” at France’s pre-World Cup party as they aim for an upset, but Deschamps is simply grateful they accepted the invitation at all.
“I would like to thank Northern Ireland for accepting to play against us here because I can tell you it hasn’t been really easy (to schedule opponents),” he said.
“Between people who really want to play over in the US and those who don’t want to play against us, it’s complicated.
“I’m really happy to have a little bit of a different profile with a really athletic team and this particular ability to play the long throw-ins that become almost like corners, real quality players, and their coach is doing a great job.
“I know there’s a lot of room for improvement for sure in the upcoming years.”
Continue reading...
The game, in front of a sell-out crowd of 50,000 in Lille, will serve as France’s final preparations for a World Cup in which they are among the favourites.
And it will be the last home match for Deschamps, who this July will end a 14-year spell as boss in which he has won both the World Cup and Nations League, as well as reaching the 2022 World Cup final.
While Deschamps said he was grateful Northern Ireland had agreed to take on this fixture when few others wanted it, Rabiot is keen to ensure only France are celebrating at the end of the night.
“I can’t imagine the state of mind of Didier after all this time spent with the French team,” Rabiot said through a translator. “We’re all human beings. We have compassion, we have emotions and everything that comes along with it.
“Coach has done a great job with the France team and I hope he will be celebrated, that we will celebrate him like we should because he deserves it. We should win it, it would be a good tribute.”
Deschamps already received extensive tributes on Thursday on his old stomping ground in Nantes – although the night ended in a 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast – but the 57-year-old said he was trying to focus on France’s bigger goals.
“There’s lots of things I’ve done for the last time, so I’m trying not to think about all these things,” he said. “The truth is, I’m not too sad, I’m not going to be happy about it.
“I thank everyone in Nantes, the tribute was nice, even though it was during the match and the players were playing and I was trying to be focused on what was happening on the field.
“But these two matches before we leave for the United States, being close to the supporters who are not able to go to the United States… we’re trying to get as much energy, trying to get as many positive vibes from the supporters as we can.”
In his own press conference, Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill said he wanted his side to be “badly-behaved guests” at France’s pre-World Cup party as they aim for an upset, but Deschamps is simply grateful they accepted the invitation at all.
“I would like to thank Northern Ireland for accepting to play against us here because I can tell you it hasn’t been really easy (to schedule opponents),” he said.
“Between people who really want to play over in the US and those who don’t want to play against us, it’s complicated.
“I’m really happy to have a little bit of a different profile with a really athletic team and this particular ability to play the long throw-ins that become almost like corners, real quality players, and their coach is doing a great job.
“I know there’s a lot of room for improvement for sure in the upcoming years.”
Continue reading...
