Deschamps Lauds France's Tactical Patience In Euro 2024 Victory Over Belgium

Didier Deschamps believes France's patience was key in their narrow win over Belgium at Euro 2024. The match, anticipated as a highlight of the round of 16, did not meet expectations. However, France secured the crucial goal when Jan Vertonghen accidentally deflected Randal Kolo Muani's shot into his own net.

France will now face either Portugal or Slovenia in the quarter-finals. Remarkably, they have advanced without scoring from open play, relying on two own goals and a penalty so far. Deschamps praised his team's persistence against a cautious Belgian side.

"We made a lot of progress and I think that the opponent was obviously a little bit more cautious, even though on paper Belgium is quite an offensive team," Deschamps said. "They are quite an attacking team, they maybe held back a little bit more than we're used to seeing."

Deschamps noted that despite their efforts to attack and create chances, Belgium's defensive approach made it challenging. "On our side as well, even though we did everything we could to try and attack, to try and score, to try and create chances," he added.

France managed to create more opportunities than Belgium but also had moments where they were defensive. "We were intelligent, we were playing the waiting game, and we weren't going to fall into the trap of giving them the space that they were looking for," Deschamps explained.

Excluding own goals, France has not scored from any of their 66 non-penalty shots at Euro 2024. This has raised questions about Les Bleus' finishing ability. Deschamps acknowledged this issue and emphasized it as an area for improvement.

"Obviously, you can't win games just through possession, but it's better having the possession of the ball and attacking and making the team defend," Deschamps stated. "But the number of shots we had, that's probably the only thing that I want to work on."

Despite these concerns, Deschamps remains optimistic about his team's potential. "I think that on the pitch there's high intensity, and even if today the goal is enough for us to get to the quarter-finals, we've always got the capacity and the capability to score more," he said.

Pride in Progress

Deschamps expressed immense pride in his team's achievements so far. "I'm immensely proud of what we've been able to do, and we're into the quarter-finals, and that's probably what counts," he concluded.

The French team will need to address their finishing issues as they prepare for their next challenge against either Portugal or Slovenia in the last eight.