Midfielder and provisional captain of the France team Aurélien Tchouaméni made no secret of the players’ lack of enthusiasm in the Nations League, a competition that does not make our Blues dream.
The France team is preparing to face Belgium for the third time since the Euro, this Monday at 8:45 p.m. The rivalry between two neighbors who have fueled antagonism since the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup is growing. The poster has even become a true classic of European football, including in the Nations League, where the two nations never stop crossing paths. But the competition as the scene of these clashes does not arouse the same surge of enthusiasm among the players. Far from the excitement that a Euro or a World Cup can generate, two tournaments which, at the mere mention of them, make stars shine in the eyes of the players, who have, all their lives, dreamed of playing in them.
“If we play it, it’s because we want to win it”
“It’s not the competition of the century, we’re not going to hide it,” admitted Aurélien Tchouaméni, a little embarrassed at having to assume this position, but who ended up admitting it at a press conference. “It’s no secret,” he said, before bringing out his best tongue in cheek. “But it’s a competition. As a professional football player, every time we put on the jersey, with the French team or at club, we must do everything to win. We are competitors. I’m happy to have been able to add this trophy to my list of achievements. It’s not the World Cup or the Euro, but if we play it it’s because we want to win it, and we’re going to do everything for it. “
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The Nations League was established by UEFA with the aim of reviving interest in opposition between national teams outside of major competitions and their qualifying tournaments. Bet won? “There is a requirement, it’s the French team, and it’s a competition, so I’m not going to tell you: ‘I don’t care’, and neither do the players. In their calendar, it’s a competition that becomes interesting from the moment we qualify for the Final 8”, smiled Didier Deschamps.
The coach also noted that if “the best meet the best” with “more posters” for broadcasters and viewers, the more modest teams no longer find space in the calendar to meet the best teams on the continent: “C ‘is almost impossible.” “These matches, without losing the desire and the ambition to be in the first two of our group, there is also the objective for me to see the players in action on the pitch and as much as possible,” said concluded Didier Deschamps. The League of Nations? A laboratory above all for the breeder.
