France boss Didier Deschamps was circumspect after France’s 1-1 draw with the USA, citing fatigue after a heavy week of training but vowing to hit the World Cup with renewed ‘explosivity and speed’.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
International friendly
Groupama Stadium, Lyon
France 1 – 1 United States of America 
Didier Deschamps (France coach): “I always expect better. But tonight we lacked a bit of spring in our step as we have been working very hard all week. Even though we had a lot of chances, we didn’t get many efforts on target. We lacked a bit of precision and mobility. I won’t say it pleases me but it’s part of the preparation process. These three preparation matches (against Ireland, Italy and the USA) gave us a chance to see some different things from our side. Paul Pogba is a good example; his match tonight and his match last Friday were worlds apart. I’m satisfied with the work we have done. Tonight’s wasn’t the best of our three matches but I’m not complaining about our troubles. Even though it’s linked to the recent workload, fatigue can be no excuse. No we’ll get to work on our explosivity and speed.”
Dave Sarachan (United States of America coach): “You couldn’t have scripted it any better. The whole idea of programming games like this is to offer young players the opportunities to understand what it’s like to play away, in front of a home crowd which was fantastic tonight for the French team, against what I think is a team that can legitimately win this World Cup.”
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