The Albany Gazette - Deschamps leads France to familiar territory in final World Cup

On Thursday, France made light work of Morocco as goals by captain Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele gave them a 2-0 win in their last-eight clash in Boston.

"Right now we are only in the semi-finals. We have another step to go and it will obviously be really difficult," said Deschamps.

The match next Tuesday in Dallas against the winner of Friday's clash between Spain and Belgium will be his and France's third consecutive World Cup semi-final.

That confirms France's status as the superpower of modern international football. Previous teams to have reached three straight semi-finals are Germany, in 1982, 1986 and 1990, and Brazil (1994, 1998 and 2002).

So what has been the recipe for success for Deschamps in achieving such consistency?

"I don't know, having very good players, I guess. But I can't be doing my job too badly," he said Thursday in understated fashion.

"It is a human adventure and even though I chose the players, to be with this squad every day is very important.

"I am very happy on a personal level and also happy to see them enjoying themselves so much."

His players have also made clear their affection for him, like when Mbappe celebrated a goal in the 3-0 last-32 win over Sweden by running over to embrace his manager.

Deschamps, 57, had just rejoined his squad after making a return trip home following the death of his mother.

"It is in this squad's DNA to all be together and behind the coach, whatever happens. We wanted to make him feel like he was not alone," said Mbappe.

Deschamps was still a relatively young man when he became France coach, this week 14 years ago.

Les Bleus were in need of a fresh start after the fiasco of the 2010 World Cup, marred by a squad uprising against then-coach Raymond Domenech as they crashed out in the group stage.

- Aura and records -

Laurent Blanc took them to the Euro 2012 quarter-finals, but Deschamps truly transformed France.

He had a particular aura, having captained his country to their first ever World Cup triumph, on home soil in 1998. Victory at Euro 2000 followed.

Things almost failed before they truly started for him as coach, with France having to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit to beat Ukraine 3-2 on aggregate in a play-off to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

They went out in the quarter-finals in Brazil to eventual champions Germany, but solid foundations had been set.

After losing the Euro 2016 final as hosts to Portugal, Deschamps brought in a teenage Mbappe and France won the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

Then came the run to the final in Qatar in 2022 and the defeat on penalties to Lionel Messi's Argentina, despite Mbappe scoring a hat-trick.

Now Deschamps has led them on another deep run, despite this now being a very different squad to past tournaments.

"There are things we can repeat but it is not a copy-paste job. It is never exactly the same conditions, there are always lots of things to deal with," he said.

On Thursday he took charge of a 25th World Cup game as coach, equalling the record held by Helmut Schoen, who took West Germany to four World Cups between 1966 and 1978, leading them to glory as hosts in 1974.

Deschamps is one of only three men to have won the World Cup as a player and a coach, alongside Brazil's Mario Zagallo and West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer.

He is now hoping to become just the second man to win it twice as a coach, after Italy's Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s.

That would be quite the way to sign off, before he finally moves on to a fresh challenge.

Zinedine Zidane is expected to succeed him.

"I am not thinking about exiting in style, through the front door," Deschamps insisted on Thursday. "The collective interest is the most important thing."

(S.Perez--TAG)