In the mixed zone, after the victory against Italy (3-1), the players of the France team looked back on a contrasting year 2024 to take stock and look forward to 2025.
The French team concluded its 2024 year in style with a prestigious victory (3-1) against Italy at San Siro. A success that the Blues sought by returning to their efficiency… from set pieces. Three goals scored in the same match in this single phase of play, this has not happened to the French team for several decades, since March 30, 1991 to be precise.
Defeated by this same team at the Parc des Princes two months earlier, France gave back at the Nazionale with an identical score which also ensured first place in the group in the League of Nations. Enough to have a good end of year celebration after the numerous criticisms received in recent months.
Shaken as he has rarely been during his mandate, coach Didier Deschamps was undoubtedly reassured by the behavior of his players, but everything was not perfect.
At the twilight of a year that was not very exciting in terms of the game, the match against Italy was a reminder once again that offensive animation remained a priority project, as did the need to reconnect with the supporters, with whom a gap seemed to deepen, to resolve the Mbappé case, absent from the last two gatherings, and to begin a new cycle without Antoine Griezmann.
In this year of great competition, of course, the Blues reached the semi-finals of the Euro, losing against the future winner, Spain, but without ever arousing passion for their journey, the fault in particular of a game of great poverty.
“Above all, remember the bad things.”
Despite everything, after this last victory against Italy, midfielder Matteo Guendouzi preferred to retain “a lot of positives” from this year 2024. Less inclined to make conversation than his teammates, the taciturn Blues goalkeeper Mike Maignan did not want to looking back on this year 2024 and preferred to look far ahead: “What happened happened.”
“It's a good year, said Marcus Thuram. We ended with a victory. We are first in our group in the Nations League, I think it's a very good year. (Despite the disappointment of the Euro?) There is only one team that wins, it's Spain. We played against them, they were, in this match, better than us. is first place in the League of Nations.”
“The most important competition for us was the Euro, objected Ibrahima Konaté, captain for one evening at San Siro. We went as far as the semi-finals, there was this frustration, because our objective was to go further, and why not win this competition What I remember is that we have done good things, and bad things. We must especially remember the bad things to know what lies ahead. improve and what we can work on to become better.”
