The Blues did it! After a sad face shown in Croatia, the French team lost in the first leg 2-0 and complicated the task for a qualification in the semi-finals of the League of Nations. But after a remobilization, Didier Deschamps' men showed a much better state of mind and imposed themselves at the Stade de France thanks to the achievements of Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembélé to take the Blues to the penalties and qualify at the end of the night.
Involved on the two goals of the evening, Captain Kylian Mbappé, back in the French team, spoke and praised the heroic qualification. “We got up with the idea that we could have a good evening, do a big thing. We didn't want to let them breathe. Michael puts a superb free kick and Ousmane Dembélé is very effective. We pushed to avoid extra time, but we knew that we had a very large goalkeeper on penalties ”he first explained on TF1.
Kylian Mbappé is very happy
Before ensuring that the Blues had remobilized after the first leg debacle. “It was a goal, not a dream. We were convinced that we were going to do it, we needed a match like that to put the audience with us. We wanted a hostile audience for the Croats. It was cool, we're going to the Final Four. I wanted everyone to believe in it, the group, we believed in it. We tried to transmit it and take the 80k people with us. It is not a revenge in Spain, there is a title to go and seek and that is what we want with the selection ”added the tricolor captain.
A feeling shared by one of the heroes of the evening, Mike Maignan, author of two decisive parades against Croatia. “Sometimes you need to be stung to have a reaction like this. It's good to have this kind of moment, you should not take a light opponent. We talked a lot after the first leg and we made a big game ”explained the tricolor porter. Enough to weld the France group before qualifying for the next World Cup and the semi-final of the League of Nations, against Spain in June.
