Didier Deschamps’ immense smile, which stretched from ear to ear on his face, said it all. On the grass of the San Siro stadium in Milan, the coach threw his water bottle into the air, out of joy but also to release the frustration accumulated over the last few months. He almost forgot to greet his Italian counterpart, Luciano Spalletti, whose team was defeated by the French team (1-3), on Sunday, November 17.
Perched atop the San Siro, the nearly 4,000 French fans who had made the trip could sing, over and over again: “We are at home”. Thanks to this two-goal victory, the ‘bleus’ not only finished 2024 well, but also snatched first place from Italy in their Nations League group. “Winning here is a source of pride. And to win by two goals, I told the players that we had to take that into account.”Deschamps assured. This is not anecdotal: in the quarterfinals, in March, they will host the second leg and will face a second in the group, whose identity will be known on November 22.
The two heroes of the evening are as unexpected as the magnitude of this French advance, three days after a performance of rare poverty against Israel (0-0). Lucas Digne and Adrien Rabiot played their 50th national team on Sunday, an event worth celebrating, with the former being especially generous with the latter. On two occasions, from a corner (2nd) and then from a free kick (65th), Digne placed the ball on the head of Rabiot, who scored his first double with the Bleus.
A collective success
In addition to his two assists, the left back also caused Guglielmo Vicario’s own goal (33rd), which would have deserved to be awarded because his shot was splendid. “We will say that I did 50% of the work”smiled Digne after the game. Returning to the national team in September, after two years of absence, the Aston Villa player may have sown the seeds of doubt in his coach’s mind. Théo Hernández, the usual starter in the position, finds himself in a gap, with Kylian Mbappé often missing at left back.
“It will undoubtedly complicate my decisions for the future”confirmed Deschamps, who was not only thinking about his team. The coach was delighted with the “great match” performed by all its actors. During the first half hour, their seven changes to the team composition and their tactical choice to move to a diamond system hampered the Italian team considerably. Very close to each other, the French midfielders and attackers combined well and managed to gain ground by multiplying their passes.
You have 47.07% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
