Didier Deschamps shrugs off lack of goals

France coach satisfied despite stalemate with Ecuador.

RIO DE JANEIRO: France coach Didier Deschamps said he was not concerned about his team’s goalless draw with Ecuador after two earlier high-scoring victories, saying the former world champions were just where he wanted them to be at this stage.

The 0-0 draw, which eliminated the South Americans from the competition, gave France top spot in their group and a meeting with Nigeria in the last 16.



Deschamps changed more than half his starting line-up for their last Group E game, knowing that France were already virtually guaranteed a place in the next round.

“It’s good to have done well in the first games,” said Deschamps, captain of the 1998 World Cup winning team. “It’s good for our confidence and we will seek to keep that up. We had the aim of qualifying, if possible in first place, and we have done that. We’re very pleased but it’s not over.”

After scoring eight times in their first two games in Brazil, Wednesday’s unfamiliar looking French team wasted most of the game’s best chances of breaking the deadlock. Deschamps played reserve striker Antoine Griezmann instead of Olivier Giroud and there were three new faces in defence.

Asked about his selection, Deschamps said bringing in new players always came with a risk of disrupting a team’s flow.

“Despite that, we had good movement,” Deschamps told a news conference. “We were less dangerous in the first half because Ecuador defended very well.”

Once Ecuador went down to 10 men after the sending off of Antonio Valencia early in the second half, France had more space and “we linked up very well but we were not clinical,” he said.

We played against the weather too: Hitzfeld

Switzerland suffered terribly as they secured a second round spot by beating Honduras 3-0 in the final World Cup Group E match in very sticky conditions, said coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

The temperature at kickoff was 26 degrees Celsius and the humidity was at 88%.

“Not only did we play a strong team but we played against the weather,” Hitzfeld told a news conference.

“The players showed the right attitude and will and we surpassed ourselves. Passion comes from suffering and we really suffered today [Thursday],” he said.  

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2014.

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