The verdict on the pitch will not have saved this League of Nations poster which was set to face a gloomy and tense context. A goalless draw concluded the debates between the France team and Israel this Thursday evening in Saint-Denis. In a Stade de France which had never sounded so hollow.
The official attendance communicated for the occasion will have counted 16,611 spectators. Never has the threshold been so low for a Blues match in their favorite venue since the previous floor in this area was still 36,842 people, for a Confederations Cup match against New Zealand in 2003. And it is not the qualification thus acquired for the quarter-finals of the competition mentioned above which will create an illusion.
Deschamps: “The least of things”
“ There is frustration, anger, a little bit of everything. We didn’t have a good match at all. We had chances but we didn’t put in what we needed to, that’s the reason why we sucked. The qualification? I don’t know if we should be happy about it after this match. Qualification assured, that’s the only positive point this evening », Says a slightly disillusioned Jules Koundé on TF1.
Same disappointment with Ibrahima Konaté: “ There is a huge disappointment, a huge frustration. In this match, we dominated, we had a lot of opportunities to win the match. Of course, we don’t lose and we are qualified, but we shouldn’t be proud of that. (…) It’s a good thing to move on to the quarter-finals, but on the other hand we have to learn from our mistakes, know what we did less well today in order to be better in the next matches. »
“ We could have done morenotes Didier Deschamps. From the moment we don’t score, against a regrouped opponent who gains time… The goalkeeper did what was necessary too, but there was a gain in time. In actual time, I don’t even know if we played for an hour. From the moment there is 0-0, it reinforces them in this defensive work. If we had opened the score, it wasn’t the same for them. (…) We remained on three victories. I’m not going to go through the roof by going 0-0 here at home, whether against Israel or another team. The least we can do is ensure qualification. »
