Ibrahima Konaté and Eduardo Camavinga discussed the future opponent of the French team in the round of 16 of Euro 2024, Belgium.
Our special correspondent in Paderborn
“We are entering another competition”, assures Ibrahima Konaté. And even in “another dimension”he promises. Present at a press conference this Saturday, two days before France-Belgium in the 8th finals of Euro 2024, the Liverpool defender and Eduardo Camavinga discussed the future opponent of the French team, “a great nation with great players”as explained «Cama». “What’s past is past. The 8th are coming. Mentally they will change, it might be a different team. We will have to be ready because it will be difficult.”he assures. Like the Blues, the Red Devils have indeed had a very average first round. Who is the sickest, the French or the Belgians? “No. There are no easy teams anymore. It was tough for both teams in the group stage. We are in the same competition but it is a new tournament, you go through or you go in.”explains Ibou.
Let us recall that the winner will meet Portugal or Slovenia on July 5 in Hamburg. The Blues would do better to switch quickly, after dull first matches in Germany. “I don’t know how to explain it but it changes in the mind. In the 8th, if you lose, it’s over. It’s a different approach on a mental level”notes Camavinga, accustomed to big meetings with Real. “We had a little moment with the families. The day after (the match against Poland), the coach took us all, he had a speech and I really had the feeling that we were entering another competition, another dimension. Now is not the time to do calculations. Only one option: win to advance to the next round. That’s why we play football. It won’t be easy but we will prepare for it.”assures Konaté, asking supporters to “continue to support (them) as they have done since the beginning”.
Lukaku is the strongest striker I have ever faced.
Ibrahima Konate
A favorite before this derby-style round of 16? Kevin De Bruyne cites France. “It’s very complicated to answer this question. I saw a sentence from Kevin De Bruyne who said that we were favorites, that’s false. You must not fall into this trap. Both teams will want to win and we must not get into that”dribbles Konaté. Belgium has top-level individuals. Starting with De Bruyne. “I don’t have the secret skill, he’s a great player, he moves around a lot, we’ll have to be compact defensively”devine Eduardo Camavinga. “You have to close your passes”adds Ibrahima Konaté.
What about Romelu Lukaku? “He’s the strongest striker I’ve faced, he has a lot of qualities but he’s not the only one. I have confidence in our qualities. It will be a complicated match, they will have that spirit of revenge from the 2018 World Cup.”says Ibrahima Konate, who has often faced him in England. And adds: “The technique is not to make contact before he has the ball. He plays a lot with the body. Camavinga, himself, knows Jérémy Doku well from Rennes: “It’s hard to defend against him, he’s explosive. The best compared to Ousmane Dembélé? They have different dribbles, he’s more aggressive in explosiveness, Ousmane in finesse”he analyzes. Monday, no room for finesse. More of a fight.
