The large delegation of French journalists, scattered across three different hotels in this city of 150,000 inhabitants, nevertheless prowls around the Home Deluxe Arena when Didier Deschamps closes his training sessions to the press. “Cracking behind closed doors” is a national sport among our neighbours. To have the pride of announcing the right line-up in the newspaper.I don’t know how it goes in Belgium but the Spanish, Italian and English colleagues are not at all like that. They respect closed doors.”tells us a journalist from a major French daily.
Deschamps spotted the spot of the French “spies”
When Deschamps saw the Paderborn stadium, he especially liked the architecture and the neighborhood: a completely enclosed enclosure isolated by a huge parking lot.Finding a nearby building and making friends with someone on the top floor is something you often do in a big tournament.laughs another colleague. We sit at the window and watch the training behind closed doors with our binoculars. In Brazil, the couple who lived in the apartment even prepared an aperitif for us.”
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The French staff still underestimated the journalists for this Euro. Despite the security organized by Koné and the large stadium being closed, several members of the press found things. “There was a good spot in one corner of the enclosure, thanks to the opening for large vehicles to pass over the lawn. It just took two to have someone to keep watch and warn when security was arriving.”
During the group stage, Deschamps’ eleven was revealed each time at the end of the session on the French newspaper sites. Which really annoyed the coach. “Four or five days ago, just before the match against Poland, he had four-metre tarpaulins added in all the little open corners of the stadium, including in front of our spot.our colleague laments. There, frankly, it became impossible to see the session. It happened that we hid in the dressing rooms but those of Paderborn are all locked and a shutter is drawn in front of each window…”
Aperitifs, barbecues and late cancellations
The French press is also careful not to persist in this game of hide and seek. “UEFA has become much stricter, with the support of the federation. Anyone caught watching a training session behind closed doors can have their accreditation revoked. Which would be a disaster for the daily monitoring of the Blues.explains a journalist from a major regional newspaper. At first, Deschamps was a little cooler about it. He knew we were trying. At the World Cup in Brazil, security spotted a team of journalists behind the glass of a building before a match in Rio. The next day, Deschamps greeted the guys by saying: “You are photogenic you know.” Photos had been taken by security. We laughed and it was over. Here, we feel that it’s warmer.”
After a disappointing start to the tournament despite an easy qualification in the group, the French coach has become tense in recent days. He did not appreciate some articles, particularly on a possible lack of intensity during his training sessions. On Thursday evening, he even decided to cancel all media activities for Friday. For the third time, already. “But the other times, it was mainly for a practical side, in particular to leave the players in peace during the family day. There, he put himself in warrior mode until the end of the Euro”sighs a journalist.
But his decision to cancel the press conferences on Friday did not only make the delegation of French journalists unhappy.We’ll have more time to prepare our barbecue on the hotel terrace this evening. We haven’t been living in Paderborn for nearly three weeks and it’s a bit depressing. I feel like I’m spending my summer in Limoges.”
