Following the France-Israel match played Thursday evening in front of only 16,000 spectators, Didier Deschamps and Randal Kolo Muani highlighted the special atmosphere of the match and the particularly close-knit Stade de France.
Barely more than 16,000 people were present at the Stade de France on Thursday evening to watch France-Israel (0-0). Never before has the attendance been so low for a Blues match in Saint-Denis. The atmosphere in the stands was therefore as unusual as it was heavy and even those involved in the meeting pointed the finger at it afterwards.
“It’s not a context that we want to relive obviously,” admitted coach Didier Deschamps at a press conference. “Afterwards it’s not an excuse. When we’re at the Stade de France, it’s always used to being very full. This wasn’t the case but we knew that anyway, in addition to the context which is which is heavy and heavy of course.”
Randal Kolo Muani, lined up at the forefront from the kick-off, was also marked by the largely deserted stands. “It hurts my heart a little to see the stadium like that, but the supporters were there, they pushed us to the end, it’s nice,” he explained.
Changes coming to San Siro
The atmosphere will be very different on Sunday evening, at San Siro, for Italy-France. Didier Deschamps, looking ahead to this last meeting of the Nations League group stage, also announced changes to come. “There will inevitably be changes,” he stressed. “Afterwards, honestly, I cannot answer you today.”
“DD” will in particular have to manage the physical state of its troops. “It’s not an excuse, I’m announcing it straight away, but at the start of the rally there was fatigue, which is also logical, noted the coach. Because the players are coming out of a period of 3 weeks where there were 3 matches per week So this is not an excuse I repeat, but obviously the organizations are in demand, they will also be after this gathering with all the important matches they have to play. “
