After the victory against Côte d’Ivoire (2-1) in a friendly in Marseille on Friday March 25, there was nothing to be euphoric about despite the release offered by Aurélien Tchouaméni at the end of the match. Didier Deschamps especially appreciated the responder of the evening opponent which made it possible to begin the first adjustments eight months before the World Cup, while launching new faces like Christopher Nkunku, Jonathan Clauss and William Saliba.
The strength of character of the Blues, is that your greatest satisfaction?
No, it’s something more. There was no point at stake, nor qualification. It happened to us in the last matches to be behind and reverse the trend… But I’m not going to remember that (…). This collective strength, it reflects how the group is. All the quality they were able to put into training, adding aggressiveness, it’s a basic element. It’s not what will win us games but it’s something we have to cultivate.
What did you think of Aurélien Tchouaméni’s overall performance, beyond his goal?
Aurélien is top level. He has enormous potential with a lot of control. He had already shown it in previous matches, when he started and when he entered. Young people are also growing, which is good. With Paul (Pogba), it’s a pair. Aurélien has this ability in aggressiveness and recovery which is a little better than Paul. Paul is a little more forward. They really worked in doublet, even in triplet with Antoine Griezmann who is important.
With his invitation and his goal, did you not relaunch the Olivier Giroud debate on your own?
I am not here to revive the debates, I trust you to find new ones. I don’t create problems for myself, I make sure to be consistent with what I say to the players. When I put on Olivier, I don’t put it on for it to go wrong. He found the group, so much the better for him that he increased his counter (of goals). Afterwards you will say: “After? What if?” We’ll see. There is already a second game on Tuesday [29 mars contre l’Afrique du Sud à Lille]but in the meantime it’s very good, for him and for the whole group.