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Didier Deschamps reveals why he subbed Olivier Giroud in the 40th minute of the World Cup final.
France boss Didier Deschamps claims he was compelled to substitute Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele in the 40th minute of the World Cup title game otherwise his side soon would have gone 3-0 down.
Argentina defeated France in a shootout in Qatar, with Lionel Messi finally winning the trophy that has eluded him for much of his impressive career.
The PSG playmaker opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Angel Di Maria doubled Argentina’s lead.
Argentina had opportunities to make it 3-0 before halftime, which undoubtedly would have ended the game, and the score accurately represented their supremacy.
Deschamps was incensed on the sidelines as his team put on their worst performance of the tournament with not a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes.
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Deschamps hooked Giroud and Dembele in the 40th minute to introduce Marcus Thuram and Kolo Muani rather than waiting until halftime.
Kylian Mbappe levelled the score with two goals in 90 seconds 10 minutes before the end of normal time even though it took France some time to get their aggressive game going. The substitutions stopped the flow of Argentina’s attempts.
Deschamps asserts that he has no regrets over his contentious selection, claiming that he had to remove Giroud and Dembele in order to keep the score low even if the two-time winners ultimately lost the game.
‘If we had been 3-0 down, we couldn’t have complained,’ said Deschamps. “We didn’t do the right things for an hour, but then with a lot of courage, energy and quality, we pushed Argentina to the limit.
‘If I made those changes so early, it’s because I was not satisfied and I felt convinced we could do better. That doesn’t mean the players who went off were more guilty than the others.’