FRANCE 98 – France – D. Deschamps: “There are only 90 minutes left for France to go down in history”

Comments from Clairefontaine, national technical centre

“BRAZIL’s game is the best in the world, so obviously it doesn’t suit anyone. However, like all teams, they have their weaknesses and it’s up to us to take advantage of this. Defence is the key to the game. We’re going to have to be very strong physically and cut off the supply to their forwards. We must be organised and disciplined. I’m proud of this team and proud to captain it. We have a really strong team spirit and I admire the self-belief of each individual player. Up until now, I don’t have any regrets. We’re going to be part of a memorable and historic event on Sunday and there are only 90 minutes left for FRANCE to go down in history. All the players have watched our previous matches in order to build up confidence. It’s a cruel personal blow for Laurent BLANC (5) to miss the game, but he will be with us right to the end. It’s the end of an adventure for Aimé JACQUET. He has taken so much stick in the past, that people are now afraid to comment on his success. The players owe him a lot but we’ve done a lot for him too”.