“You have to know how to say stop” and this time there will be no “or again”. Didier Deschamps, the coach of the French Football team who led 165 matches, for a record of 105 victories, 34 draws and 26 defeats, decided in 2026 to put down his cap as chief general of the French team: “It will be 2026! I’ve been here since 2012, I’m scheduled until 2026… the next World Cup. It will stop there, because it has to stop at some point. In my head it’s very clear, declared the 56-year-old technician during a cross-interview with Brigitte Macron broadcast in the 1 p.m. newspaper as part of the “Pieces Jaunes” operation, of which the group’s LCI news channel had revealed an extract in the morning .
With his departure, the most glorious chapter in the history of the Blues will close. Deschamps has indeed built an extraordinary track record at the head of the France team by winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the Nations League in 2021, while reaching the finals of Euro 2016 and the World Cup. 2022.
But the tide for several years had finally turned and the “sh…tte to Dédé” no longer operated. At the end of the final of the last World Cup lost in Qatar against Argentina, the Basque’s contract had nevertheless been extended by four years, which had aroused numerous criticisms at the time, particularly from former 1998 world champions. The most virulent, Christophe Dugarry did not mince his words on the RMC Sport Antenna, when he broached the subject, loudly demanding the arrival of his lifelong friend, Zinédine Zidane. What did the former Bordeaux resident accuse him of? A game to sleep standing up or on the couch? During the last Euro-2024 in Germany, the hardly exciting game proposed by the French, despite reaching the semi-finals, was the high point of this “Deschamps Bashing”
In the process, the technician’s management had fueled the debates during the second half of the year, between the difficult management of the Kylian Mbappé case, then experiencing difficulties on a sporting and personal level following an investigation for rape but also the unexpected departure of Antoine Griezmann who announced his international retirement.
But Deschamps remains a hard-headed Basque and it was he alone who decided the date of his departure: “I did my time too, with the same desire, the same passion to maintain the French team at the highest level, but 2026 is very good. »
Daily life the Parisian also claims in its pages that he was not shown the exit door. Comment confirmed by the newspaper The Team which explains that Philippe Diallo, the president of the French Football Federation, who had been taken into confidence before the end of year celebrations, did not rule out extending the coach beyond 2026.
This lover of the French team – 103 caps and 54 captain’s armbands, between 1989 and 2000 – with whom he was World champion in 1998 then European champion two years later, wanted his decision and his case staff do not pollute the lives of the Blues next March. He therefore decided to announce his choice several months in advance so that his group would not be impacted and could concentrate on the matches against Croatia. Until he leaves his coach’s coat, his motto will remain “Win and only win” and the grumpy people don’t care. In this he is neither wrong nor right.
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