🎥 Bench players as bodyguards: Deschamps explains Mbappé move | OneFootball

France also got past Germany’s nemesis Paraguay in the round of 16 and is through to the World Cup quarter-finals. It was an awkward battle and not always a fair one. The South Americans’ hard-nosed approach had already been felt by the German team.

France’s head coach did not mince his words after the win over Paraguay and, with regard to Kylian Mbappé, also recalled a match at the 2018 World Cup. 

"It wasn’t easy. If we had scored from either of those two chances at the end, it would have been much more relaxed. Maybe that’s not the kind of football that brings people into the stadium, but we played aggressively, and that’s part of it too. We stayed true to our game, but it’s difficult when you want to play with a lot of intensity and defend well. Of course, the heat works against that intensity, and the opponent also defended very well. It’s a nice step forward — against South American teams, it’s always complicated," the 57-year-old told 'MagentaTV'.

Beyond the qualification itself, the end of the match was marked by great tension and provocations from the Paraguay players.

According to Deschamps, he had to take special measures against this dangerous style of play, specifically to protect Mbappé: "They know how to play like that — and in the end, we’re the ones who get punished. We got two yellow cards, while they committed endless fouls that weren’t even penalized. Especially with Kylian: I still remember 2018 against Uruguay, when I had to take him off because otherwise they would have practically kicked him to pieces. I immediately instructed the two strongest players on the bench to protect him after the final whistle, because you never know. A match is never really over, and I don’t want to lose any player."

In closing, he highlighted the unity of his team: "I have a united team with an excellent attitude. Today we had difficult spells, but we did exactly what was necessary."

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 FRANCK FIFE - AFP or licensors