Questioned by RMC after the World Cup final, in which France lost on penalties to Argentina 4-2 after a 3-3 draw, French Football Federation president, Noël Le Graët, described Les Bleus’ run in Qatar as “still a victory for French football”.
Le Graët, who was seen on the podium at the end of the game as part of the medal presentation party, praised France’s powers of recovery, stating that the “team came back well, we equalized,” before pointing out that Les Bleus still came close to triumph, Randal Kolo-Muani coming close to a winner with almost the last kick in extra time, only to see his shot saved by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. “We lost on penalties but it’s still a victory for French football,” said the FFF chief. “We are sad right now but we’ll soon realise that France performed well, no one expected this level at the start of the competition.”
Continuing, Le Graët went on to highlight the level of the games France played, after beating a strong England side in the last eight and easing past a well-organised Morocco in the semi-finals. “We have a good team, which is young, very young,” the 80-year-old said, describing striker Kylian Mbappé, who became only the second man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, as the “man for tomorrow” before suggesting he would soon meet with beaten coach Didier Deschamps to assess the tournament, the manager is set to stay on in his role until at least EURO 2024 after France made a third final in five major tournaments under his tutelage.
Adam White | GFFN