Back in blue a little over a year after his last match – the lost quarter-final of the World Cup – the captain spoke this Friday at a press conference, on the eve of France-Japan.
Whether in training or in matches, I find it hard to believe that I am not very good or average. His return to the French team, 391 days later
“I’m very happy. I was very impatient at the idea of meeting the team again, and especially the guys who make it up and, obviously, the Stade de France. I wasn't lost, I quickly found myself. (…) We feel a new energy, with a new staff and quite a few new players who are almost starting to make us feel old! But so much the better. It shows that the French breeding ground is there.”
The captaincy regained
“I spoke with Fabien (Galthié) about the captaincy. My point of view was clear: I was coming back to this team, I was available to the team. So if the staff thought it was the best solution to give me the captaincy, I obviously accepted it. If their solution had been different, I would have accepted it too. In this team, there are different leaders and I don't think we have an ego problem on the captaincy.
Whether in training or in matches, I find it hard to believe that I am not very good or average.
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“It’s something instinctive, that I have in me. Every time I'm on the field, I want to be the best I can be and win everything that comes my way. Even if these are competitions that I have already won. There are always goals to seek. Whether in training or in matches, I find it hard to believe that I am not very good or average. I also have the chance to play in very successful and ambitious teams.”
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“That was already the case before. When you represent the French team, you have a public image to maintain and responsibilities, whether on or off the field. There are no real changes, just more clarity on what we have the right to do or not do, moments which will be chosen to be moments of conviviality or not. As long as it's shared between the staff and the players… It's something that we didn't even have to discuss, it happened naturally. The common goal is to be the best possible on the pitch.”
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