"The French team needs to play effectively, especially in attack. Both teams have their own strengths," said coach Deschamps at the press conference before the quarter-final match against Morocco in Boston (USA).
Coach Deschamps is highly regarded for leading the French national team to the World Cup quarter-finals for the fourth consecutive time, and especially for winning the championship in 2018 (Photo: Icon Sport).
Notably, this will be a rematch between France and Morocco, as the "Gallic Roosters" previously defeated the African representative in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, unlike being considered an "underdog" in the tournament four years ago, this time Morocco is very confident of winning the World Cup with impressive performances from the group stage to the quarter-finals.
In the group stage, Morocco drew with Brazil in their opening match, then defeated Switzerland and Haiti. They secured a thrilling victory against the Netherlands in a penalty shootout in the round of 16 before thrashing Canada 3-0 in the round of 8.
However, France is still considered the favorite over Morocco, having won all five of their recent matches thanks to the brilliant performances of striker Kylian Mbappe. The 1998-born forward currently has 7 goals in the tournament, second only to Argentina's Lionel Messi, who has 8 goals.
Along with Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, and Bradley Barcola formed one of France's most dangerous attacking lines at the World Cup. But coach Deschamps insisted that France needed to further improve their attacking effectiveness if they wanted to beat Morocco.
"We played effectively, but we could have done better in this aspect. Sometimes you have six chances and score two goals, sometimes you have two chances and score two goals. What's more important is to play effectively."
Morocco is not like Paraguay. We met them four years ago in the semi-finals. They reached the final of the African Cup of Nations. They have top-class individuals. Morocco is not here to play games. They are here to win. We must be ready, play well, and show our character against this great team," the coach, born in 1968, affirmed.
Striker Mbappe is a player that Morocco fears when facing France (Photo: Getty).
Regarding the French squad, coach Deschamps said he would have to wait and see if midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who is recovering from a muscle injury, will be fit in time to participate in the quarter-final match.
"He feels better, but I left the hotel this morning. I can't say anything more. Tchouameni can join training today. All the other players are ready," said coach Deschamps.
Regarding France's appeal to have Michael Olise's yellow card overturned in the match against Paraguay, the 57-year-old coach said that FIFA had informed them that the yellow card was still valid.