A few hours before the round of 16 of Euro 2024 against Belgium (this Monday, 6 p.m.), Hugo Lloris, captain during the coronation of the Blues at the 2018 World Cup, confessed in an interview with L’Equipe on the very defensive approach during the historic victory in the semi-final against the Belgian golden generation.
Confidences on an epic. As the 8th final of this Euro 2024 against Belgium (this Monday, 6 p.m.) approaches quickly, Hugo Lloris revealed, in an interview with the newspaper L’Equipe, some tactical details on the approach of the Blues against the Red Devils in the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup (won 1-0 with a goal from Umtiti on a corner).
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And if the French goalkeeper first remembers that Deschamps’ men had achieved “the perfect match”, all in control, against “the golden generation” of Belgium, he also confesses that the initiative of the very low block, which marked this meeting, is far from being the idea of the coach himself:
“The low block? We did it at the time, it was Antoine (Griezmann) who took responsibility,” revealed the former captain of the Blues.
A decision taken with the confidence of the coach who granted the players the benefit of the “feelings” of the pitch and their ability to adapt accordingly. “We couldn’t leave them any space behind their backs. Either we were going to look for them very high or very low (…) we feared them a lot,” continued the Frenchman before concluding: “Well, we stayed a lot of low blocks anyway (laughs)”.
“He will always criticize us for having defended too low”
While the philosophy of the coach of the Blues seems to give a special place to defensive animation, Hugo Lloris nevertheless reveals that the approach of the world champions in this famous semi-final would have particularly displeased the coach: “To be in the know, he will always reproach us for having defended too deep”.
Since this semi-final with a bitter taste for the Belgians, another victory can be credited to the French team, the last confrontation to date between the two nations, that of the semi-finals of the League of Nations in 2021. A 3-2 success which should leave more “regrets” for Belgium than the setback in the World Cup, estimates Lloris.
So watch out for the spirit of revenge of the Belgians this Monday evening (6 p.m.) for the round of 16 of Euro 2024.
