Didier Deschamps confessed to losing the title to the illness in his camp.
I don’t think we showed up for the first half. Deschamps said after the final, “We expected it (their intensity), but we didn’t respond correctly.”.
The reason we weren’t as good was because of many things. There were a few key players who had less energy, but bringing on younger players with less experience but plenty of freshness and quality allowed us to keep dreaming.
“Unfortunately, the dream didn’t come true.”
Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot returned after missing the semi-final against Morocco. Despite Raphael Varane missing training on Friday with cold-like symptoms, Deschamps’ team put up a sluggish performance for long periods.
“The whole squad had to deal with a tough situation. Did that affect you physically or mentally? Deschamps, hoping to become the first coach to win two World Cups since Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in 1930, said he didn’t know.
“I wasn’t worried about the players who started, but maybe it was just the matches catching up with us. We had four days to prepare, one less than they did.
This isn’t an excuse, but we weren’t as dynamic as we had been, so it was practically not a contest for an hour.”
Deschamps said when his team trailed 2-0 at halftime he got so angry in the dressing room that he injured his finger, which was covered in a plaster.
“I lost part of my finger at halftime. That happens to me sometimes – you’ve got to make a few ripples and try to make things right.
We weren’t at our best physically and we played a World Cup final team. It didn’t seem like we were.”
