Euro 2024: Deschamps Says France's Opener Against Austria Not Crucial
Didier Deschamps understands the significance of France's Euro 2024 opener against Austria, but he referenced Argentina's World Cup triumph to illustrate that a fast start isn't everything. France are considered one of the favourites for the tournament in Germany, having reached the final in three of their last four major competitions. They finished as runners-up at Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup, while winning the 2018 World Cup.
The Netherlands and Poland are also in their challenging group, with Ronald Koeman's Oranje securing a 2-1 win when those sides met on Sunday. Although Deschamps aims for France to match that quick start, their experience at the Qatar World Cup showed it is not essential. A Kylian Mbappe hat-trick in that tournament's final was insufficient to prevent France from losing to a Lionel Messi-led Argentina, who had started their campaign with a surprising 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia.
"The first match is very important, but not decisive," Deschamps said on Sunday. "Starting with a win is ideal; Austria will think the same. Negotiating this first match well would put us in a good position, but there is no one way to do it—look at Argentina!"
1 - France have won just one of their last four matches prior to making their debut in a major tournament (EURO + World Cup), with two draws and one defeat. Worrying? pic.twitter.com/oymdnJDT3u
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) June 9, 2024
Deschamps emphasised that his team has prepared thoroughly. "This is the competition; we made sure with all the staff that they had all the information. The common trait between all the matches is that the intensity is very high. Austria have this strength; they use verticality well. We will have to be ready to get the result we want."
France's Euro 2024 preparations have been overshadowed by political events in the country. Forwards Marcus Thuram and Mbappe both chose to speak out ahead of parliamentary elections set to take place in the coming weeks. With Marine Le Pen's National Rally party expected to perform well, Thuram described the situation as sad. Mbappe used Sunday's pre-match press conference to express his hope: "I hope we'll still be proud to wear this jersey on July 7."
Deschamps is not worried about these matters distracting his players and never considered advising them against expressing their views. "I consider that my intervention would be inappropriate. I could have said, 'given the situation, guys, focus on the sport,' as if I forbade them to speak," he said. "I didn't. They are men, French citizens, with their own sensitivities. When they are on the pitch, they are focused on the sporting objectives but not disconnected from what can happen."
???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? 1 team on the pitch and 68 million French men and women by their side to write history in Blue. See you tomorrow for the start of the Euro campaign #BleuCollectif pic.twitter.com/C0XEVLN0K5
— French Team (@FrenchTeam) June 16, 2024
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