Didier Deschamps does not “ask himself the question” of a departure after the 2022 World Cup

He said to himself “flourished” and ready to stack “ten more years” with the France team. At the head of the Blues since 2010, Didier Deschamps told several media including AFP on Thursday, December 16, last season, of the failed euro to the conviction of Karim Benzema. But also for the year to come with, the highlight, the World Cup in Qatar 2022.

What do you keep from the year 2021?

Didier Deschamps: We had three objectives, we achieved two which are important. The premature elimination of the Euro hurt, but it must be accepted too. Everything was going very well until the 81st minute (against Switzerland in the eighth). Behind, it goes in all directions, everything is called into question, details that have no importance take on disproportionate proportions. Being able to start again is not easy because it was a hard blow, but I was convinced deep down that there were still great things to do. For me, 2021 remains a positive year.

What makes you think that the “ten minutes of distraction” of the Euro will not happen again in Qatar?

Nothing, that’s the high level. Sometimes it can go wrong. When we do less, there are no more guarantees. When the result is not there and there is an elimination at the end, everything comes out in a negative way, to excess. We were athletic ric-rac. We had to face a terrible heat wave, which massacred us physically. It is this accumulation of things that makes us lose our lucidity. We have become fragile.

Karim Benzema received a suspended prison sentence. He appealed. What is your position on the file?

It is crisp and clear. A court decision cannot be commented on. You have to accept it. From the moment he appealed, we will have to wait. I don’t have the justice program. I spoke with him. If he appeals, it is because he obviously finds it too hard, too severe, or even more. It is his right. Today, it is selectable, it is the position of the president of the Federation (French football).

Is the French team page definitely turned for Olivier Giroud, Steve Mandanda and Moussa Sissoko?

We do not know. At one point, it stops. There is never the right timing but it is like that. Today, these three players are still selectable. This does not mean necessarily selected. Both did what they had to do. It has happened to others, too, in previous years. There isn’t a player who wants this to stop. But at some point, yes, it does. We don’t necessarily know when.

President Noël Le Graët plans to discuss your future after the World Cup. Is there a chance you will see each other before?

Ask him the question. It is not planned like that. Today, it is planned that we meet again afterwards and that we decide together, even if it is he who will have the last word. But I don’t have a problem with that. Truly. I will manage the players the same.

Would a title in Qatar sound like the perfect time to go?

I do not ask myself the question. I don’t project myself. If I am to have another life, that will be great too. But I don’t know which one. There is no age limit (laughs). When I first started out as a coach, I told my wife I would have done the trick at 40. And watch today.

Have you thought about saying stop after the Euro?

No. Never. Not even half a second. I took the time to breathe, to isolate myself completely. It was three, four days. As long as my determination and my desire are always at their maximum, I am ready to take up the challenge.

Have you been contacted by clubs so far?

It could happen that I was asked, after the title of world champion for example, but I am not available. I don’t have to open the door. I am fulfilled. I don’t feel any wear and tear as a coach. If I could be ten years older than what I’m experiencing today, that would be ideal. Because that’s the very, very high level, that’s all I like. I know very well that it will stop one day, but in any case in 2022, my phone is on silent.

This World Cup, you approach it by holding the title or as a nation in reconquest?

By holding the title. The wait has always been very important around the Blues, but it is even more so since this title of world champion. The Euro is great, but there is nothing above a World Cup. We cannot go higher. Getting there is very hard, but maintaining it is even harder.

So a successful World Cup is a World Cup won for France?

I already know what a failed World Cup is. It all depends on where you place the cursor, but yes, the ambition is this: to go all the way. Afterwards, when we say that, ambition becomes complacency and when we don’t say it, it’s jargon. This was the case for the last Euro. But we must have this ambition, even if there is no guarantee.