THE COACH of the French national team, Didier Deschamps, who intended to say goodbye by winning the World Cup for the second time as a coach, is about to fight to leave it with at least a bronze medal.
France were eliminated by Spain 2-0 in the semi-finals on Tuesday. The goals were scored by Mikei Oyarzabala and Pedro Porro.
Deschamps (57), who started coaching Le Bleus in 2012, revealed before the start of this tournament that he intends to leave this position at the end of it.
He is already in the history books as one of the three coaches who won the World Cup as players or as coaches.
He was the captain of France winning the World Cup at home in 1998. He was its coach when it won in Russia in 2018.
Mario Zagallo played for Brazil when they won in 1958 and 1962, and coached the team in 1970. He was the assistant coach when it won the championship in 1994.
Another person who did this is Franz Beckenbauer from Germany, who won the 1984 World Cup as a player, and won the 1990 World Cup as a coach.
In the World Cup held in Qatar, in 2022, Deschamps brought France back to the final, which was defeated by Argentina on penalties. This means that he may leave with all the medals if his team comes out on top in the bronze medal match on Saturday night.
“Now is not the time to talk about the future. I’m happy and proud of everything we’ve done to get to this level. I was lucky as a player, a lot happened that made me happy. I’ve been happy many times and I’m a coach, although not right now,” said Deschamps on the BBC on Tuesday.
Besides making a spectacle with France in the World Cup, he also won the title ofUEFA Nations League for the 2020/21 season.
The title that eluded him was the UEFA European Championship, where his team lost to Portugal in the final in 2016.
“What he deserved was to say goodbye to the title or at least to reach the final again but it didn’t happen. However, he is a hero because of what he did for the national team 14 years ago,” said one of France’s legends, Olivier Giroud.
“He is like a father to other players. I was not that close to him but he always encouraged me. We won the World Cup together and I will always call him my coach.”
Although it has not been confirmed, according to reports, Deschamps’ place will be filled by his former teammate in the national team in 1998, Zinedine Zidane, who won three UEFA Champions League titles with Real Madrid before leaving in 2021.