Didier Deschamps, France coach, said this Friday at a press conferenceafter qualifying for the semifinals of Euro 2024 in the penalty shootout against Portugal, who replaced Kylian Mbappé before the second half of extra time because he felt “tired” and it made no “sense to let him play” even though he had a penalty shootout on the horizon.
“He looked tired and it’s not easy. I saw him struggle in the first half of extra time. It didn’t make sense to let him play, even if there were penalties. Kylian has always been honest with me and with the group and it seemed normal to me that some freshness,” he declared.
The coach stated that the clash against the team led by Roberto Martínez was “very tense and close” and acknowledged that it could have gone “one way or the other” because everything came down to details.
However, he declared that he was “very happy” for his players, who, he assured, “worked to the limit to take France to the right place.”
And Kylian Mbappé? The Frenchman was substituted in extra time
“I was already enjoying being in the quarterfinals, we are going to enjoy being in the semifinals a little more. It becomes a habit but it should not be trivialized,” he added.
In addition, he spoke about the penalty shootout that his players took and pointed out that everyone had “a lot of peace of mind” in front of a high-quality goalkeeper like Diogo Costa, who saved three penalties against Slovenia in the round of 16. “It was a balance of power against the goalkeeper. And we won,” he concluded.
