This coming Monday 20 January, tune into our good friends at Sports FRL on French Radio London. The programme’s special guest will be Didier Deschamps, the manager of France’s national team.
Samir Nasri’s injury, Franck Ribéry and the Ballon d’or, the responsibilities of a coach, his objectives for the World Cup, his relationship with France’s next generation, Didier Deschamps’ London… the ex-captain of les Bleus replied in depth to the Sports FRL team’s questions.
Tune in at 7pm (UK time) on Monday 20 January for an hour of debate and interview.
Sports FRL have kindly allowed us to publish the exclusive interview, in full, and FFW is the only place you will officially be able to read the English version – keep an eye out for the full interview next week. In the meantime here’s a teaser…
Didier Deschamps, les Bleus will be playing three friendlies leading up to the World Cup. Norway, Paraguay and Jamaica. An easy question to start with. Why did you pick those opponents?
“It’s important, for our preparation and for our friendlies before the World Cup, to play opponents with a similar profile to those that we will be meeting in the group stages. A European team, one from Central America and one from South America. We had other options, but it’s difficult to find opponents and to persuade them to travel to away fixtures. But I’m pleased to be able to face these three teams.”
They are all teams that can be classed as beatable – we’re not playing any of the big boys?
“You know, I wanted – and I told the FFF president this – to face opponents who were of a good level, but between those friendly matches we are going to do a lot of physical training. We will also have players who will be quite tired when they join us, and who’ll need to recharge their batteries. The important thing is to build up as much confidence as possible. So of course I didn’t want us to play the top teams in Europe or the world. Granted, the opposition could have been of a higher standard. But that would make it harder to put plans in place and to put ourselves in the best position for the coming tournament.”
The other recent news was the Ballon d’Or. We’ve had the result and Cristiano Ronaldo took the honour, beating Lionel Messi. Is Franck Ribéry disappointed? Doesn’t he have good reason to be?
“I was with him there (Ed: At Zurich, for the Ballon d’or ceremony), and before and after too. Of course it is reasonable to be disappointed, He is one of the three best players in the world. That is already something of which he can be very proud, a great achievement for him to be there. Rubbing shoulders with Lionel Messi et Cristiano Ronaldo. But because he was successful with his club and his country, on both an individual and a team level – and as he was a matchwinner – he was the player who won the most trophies. But sadly for him, the criteria have changed in the last few years. Even though Cristiano Ronaldo is a worthy Ballon d’or winner, Franck Ribéry deserved it just as much.”
As a coach, is the hardest thing to create a group? Was something created in France vs Ukraine?
“Yes, something happened. Of course, because they wrote their story. It was crucial for them and for everyone. Including for French football because we were carried there by amazing support from the fans. At the final whistle, there was a communion between the team and the supporters. We saw the players’ attitude, their immense joy. Seeing them spontaneously sing the Marseillaise and wave the French flag. These things bring pleasure. It is better than mere words, whether they come from me or the FFF president or the players. It is something to build from. But there are no guarantees.”
You know the World Cup better than most. You’ve won it. You’re now going to the World Cup as a coach. Are you going there to win it, with the same mentality as before?
“I’m going there to win the first match, to start with. That is crucial. Then I’ll move on, with my staff and my players, with lots of ambition. We don’t know what could happen. We need to win matches and then, yes… go as far as possible. But the first objective is to win the first match. (Smiles.) Then, I don’t need to tell you, we need to win the second, the third. But [the objective is] to qualify for the second round, finishing within the first two of our group.”
You said, when you were with a club, that your ambition was to win the Champions League. We find it hard to believe that you’re not dreaming of winning the World Cup.
“Very few win it. Of course I have the ambition to win it as a coach too. For the moment, I’ve managed to win some trophies too. It all depends on being in the right place at the right time. World Cup-winning coaches only come along once every four years. And when you look at the other countries in our way….
(We interrupt him) You’d like to be among them though?
“Yes, of course!”
Tune into Sports FRL next Monday and keep an eye out for the full interview, in English, here. In the meantime, here’s the above teaser in French.
You guys rock!. Look forward to the full interview.