Deschamps shoulders the blame for France's Euro 2020 exit
France national team’s lead against Switzerland in Euro 2020’s Round of 16 was canceled out and eventually, they were defeated in a penalty shootout.
Didier Deschamps
is ready to take the blame for the 2018 World Cup winners’ Euro 2020 elimination as they were defeated at the hands of Switzerland in a game they dominated.
France seemed to be prepared to go to the quarter-finals of the competition as they led the game 3-1 until the final nine minutes.
However, they saw a late collapse when
Kylian Mbappe
failed to meet the back of the net in a penalty shootout, which resulted in the reigning world champions’ defeat.
Deschamps told
L'Equipe
:
"The hardest thing to digest - and I am only just doing that now - is knowing what we are capable of doing and seeing what we have done.
"And, I'll say it again, to be 3-1 up in the 80th minute against Switzerland and see what happened afterwards...
"Solidity has always been our DNA. At 3-3, there is inevitably some nervousness but everything remains possible.
"There is the opportunity of [Kingsley] Coman and the ball which hits the bar. You have to be realistic. At 3-1, not a person in the stadium, or elsewhere, will have said we were not going to qualify.
"I don't want to look for excuses. I know that I am the only one in charge. When everything is going well, all is not rosy, and when things are going badly, all is not black either.
"Our elimination is linked to many elements. It is my responsibility. The initial tactical choice did not work. Making three changes is not a mistake, it is a choice. I know what got me to that point."
Karim Benzema helped France with his brace against Switzerland; however, he was replaced by Olivier Giroud in extra-time and did not take part in the shootout.
Pressed on whether there are any regrets, Deschamps added:
"Karim had nothing to do with it. Everything he had to do, he did it very well.
"I had to change the team for different reasons. I know that is not an ideal scenario. But we were 3-1 up in the 80th minute and what had been our strength to that point, we lacked.
"I could have done things differently, yes. But we were 3-1 up in the 80th minute. Neither he nor I can go back."
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