(Paris) At the end of the contract, Didier Deschamps has his destiny in hand: after the disappointment in the final of the World Cup on Sunday, the coach of the Blues will be able to extend if he wishes this position that he adores, and still stretch a mandate already ten years long.
Not seeing the Basque again at the controls of the selection for France-Netherlands, on March 24 in qualifying for Euro-2024, would be a huge surprise, so much Deschamps appreciates his function, without letting the slightest weariness filter through.
“The France team has always been the most beautiful thing that has happened to me in my professional life”, he underlined again on Saturday, on the eve of the Argentina-France final, finally lost on penalties (3-3 ap , 4-2 tabs). “Now it’s been 10 years. It’s really the passion, the very, very high level. I am very good, very happy to be in this function. »
The 1998 world champion did not wish to say more about his intentions after the final, giving an appointment “at the start of the year”, after a meeting with Noël Le Graët, boss of the French Football Federation (FFF) who will invite him to his stronghold of Guingamp.
This meeting in Brittany has become a habit for the duo, after each tournament: the sporting and logistical results of the competition are shared, as are everyone’s desires for the future.
Until the Mondial-2022, Deschamps approached each competition with the assurance of still being in office for two more years. But after the early elimination in the round of 16 at the Euro in 2021, Le Graët let him know that would not be the case before traveling to Qatar. His contract, and that of his staff, therefore expires on December 31.
2024 or 2026?
But by reaching the “last square”, the semi-finals, Deschamps met the expectations set by Le Graët. He even did better, with this final, his third in five major tournaments. “He has the cards in his hands”, launched the leader Sunday with the newspaper The Parisian. “I hope he will say yes” to the proposed extension.
In a position of strength, will Deschamps be satisfied with an extension until Euro-2014 in Germany, in 18 months? According to the daily The Team, he could ask for a longer contract, taking him to the World Cup-2026. That’s 14 years in office!
Such a long extension would be unprecedented under its mandate, started in 2012. Indeed, Le Graët used to extend Deschamps after each qualifying campaign. For example, “DD” had signed until the World Cup-2022 in December 2019, once the Blues qualified for Euro-2020.
Beyond the duration of the contract, it is also a career choice, because the big clubs will not have failed to note its availability on the market. “This is a very personal decision. Didier will return to France, take a few days of rest, reflection, “said his agent Jean-Pierre Bernès on RMC, without stretching.
Plebiscite
Even if the suspense hovers, the doubt is low, because Deschamps regularly insists on the pleasure he takes in occupying this position, less exhausting than a role of club coach, which had wrung out in Marseille between 2009 and 2012 .
The position of coach, with five meetings per season, allows him to spend a lot of time with his family, at his home on the Côte d’Azur, even if he watches a lot of matches in many Championships and travels in person to some of between them.
The World Cup showed that he had not lost his touch, on the contrary: despite the many injuries, he knew how to shape a multigenerational and united group in the face of storms.
He enjoys the confidence of several executives he has raised (Raphaël Varane, Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kanté, Kylian Mbappé, etc.) even if some, like Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris, are nearing the end of their careers. . “I owe him everything,” said Griezmann in particular during the competition.
Even the political world supports it. “Obviously he has to stay”, slipped President Emmanuel Macron in Doha, while the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, underlined on France 2 the “privilege” of seeing him in office. “It’s a huge chance and a huge asset for all of French sport,” she said on Tuesday.
The file will be followed closely by Zinedine Zidane, who has never hidden his interest in the position. But everything suggests that once again, “ZZ” will have to give way to “DD”.