A few days before the start of the World Cup, tension has risen a notch around the France team. On Thursday, the Blues lost to Ivory Coast and this created a climate of doubt among French observers. It is in this electric context that Rayan Cherki, author of a huge performance with a goal to boot, spoke despite the collective misstep. The young international, always so confident and spontaneous in his speeches, then released a few words which got people talking.
After the match, the Manchester City player actually released an innocuous sentence in the mixed zone: “no, we are not favorites, we will do everything to crush them“. This ambitious media release was quick to raise eyebrows internally. Between surprise and annoyance, certain members of the group and the selection staff reacted to this formula which was considered clumsy. Obviously, this was enough to immediately launch a lively controversy in the media and on social networks, where some did not even understand where the controversy came from in the face of this sentence, far from being fundamentally offensive.
Adrien Rabiot defends Rayan Cherki
Invited to speak on the subject this Sunday at a press conference, Adrien Rabiot, sometimes under the fire of public criticism, was keen to defend his young teammate by brushing aside the criticism: “I didn’t find it inappropriate, I didn’t really understand the controversy. I am the first to say or do things that sometimes go against what people think. It’s a rather ambitious speech, which may have been misinterpreted. I don’t think he lacked humility, not at all. That’s not Rayan’s type. But he is a very ambitious player, who wants to do well. He expresses himself in this way. Then maybe he didn’t use the right words. I don’t think that’s the case, I rather understood it in a very positive way. So, I really don’t understand the controversy. We must rather highlight the ambitious side of Rayan and his desire to give everything, rather than the negative side.»
For his part and with his usual phlegm, Didier Deschamps once again defused the bomb at a press conference this Sunday, just as he had done the day before, to definitively extinguish the fire: “this is valid for everyone in front of the press. There are interpretations that are made. I speak with the players so you are free to write articles, debates… I have no problem with that. Between what he said and what was transcribed and what he wanted to say. We asked him if France was favorite for the World Cup. He replies “no, we are not favorites, we will do everything to crush them”. He says this in a motivational sense. It’s not if he said we weren’t favorites because we’re already going to crush them all. There is a reading that may be different. But this has been the case for quite a while…» You will have understood, the French team is already looking forward to its last friendly match this Monday against Northern Ireland before the World Cup.
