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France manager Didier Deschamps admitted his players ‘failed to show up’ and lacked the ‘correct attitude’ during the first half of their World Cup final defeat against Argentina.
The eventual World Cup winners were 2-0 up at the break thanks to Lionel Messi‘s first-half penalty and Angel di Maria’s 36th-minute goal, as France struggled to find a foothold in the match.
The reigning champions were off the pace until the 80th minute, when Kylian Mbappe struck a quickfire brace in 95 seconds to salvage the contest for France and force extra-time.
Didier Deschamps admitted his players ‘failed to show up’ in the first half against Argentina
Argentina claimed their first World Cup title since 1986 as they beat France 4-2 on penalties
Les Bleus went behind again in the 108th minute before Mbappe’s second spot-kick of the match 10 minutes later handed the Frenchman a hat-trick and took Argentina to a penalty shoot-out.
Despite taking Argentina to the wire and only narrowly missing out on the World Cup trophy on penalties, Deschamps admitted France ‘utterly failed to show up’ in the first half, which cost them the match.
He said: ‘We utterly failed to show up in the 1st half. We expected (their intensity), we neither had the correct attitude nor the correct response.
After a woeful start for France, Kylian Mbappe scored twice in 95 seconds to force extra-time
Argentina’s players celebrate jubilantly after beating Les Blues 4-2 in the penalty shootout
‘It will take a lot to worry them and come back. They are really playing a World Cup final.’
The French camp was struck with a virus ahead of the final, as Adrien Rabiot, Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman were forced to sit out of the semi-final against Morocco through illness.
The trio each recovered to feature in the final, although Coman missed a crucial penalty for France in the shoot-out.
Deschamps had to settle for a runners-up medal despite his side’s recovery from 2-0 down
Deschamps added: ‘We didn’t turn up for different reasons (in the 1st 60 minutes). We have had to face difficult things in the last 4 days. Illness and then things collectively too.’
ITV pundit Gary Neville singled out Ousmane Dembele at half-time and described his defending as ’embarrassing’ after he conceded Argentina’s penalty against Angel di Maria.
Dembele, who was hooked off just before the break following his poor display in the first half, naively clipped Di Maria’s ankles as he charged into the box.
Gary Neville slammed Ousmane Dembele’s ‘pathetic’ defending against Argentina at half time
Neville said: ‘It was pathetic. To be fair, Di Maria’s position, his selection – well done to the Argentinian manager. Genius selection, it stretched Kounde and stretched that French team. Mac Allister has been in that pocket, Messi has played a little bit to the right hand side.
‘But the penalty, I have to say, Dembele – I know he’s a wide player – but honestly. What he does with this initial challenge, you know what Di Maria is going to do, he’s been doing this for 10 years. It’s embarrassing.
‘And I’m torn on this one. One, I think it’s a soft penalty to give you a goal at the World Cup, but also the stupidity of that when you get wrong-sided, you almost deserve to be found out and Dembele gets found out.’
The French star conceded a crucial penalty as Angel di Maria skipped past him on the left flank
Dembele and Oliver Giroud were hooked off before the break after their poor performances
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