Anwar Ibrahim (Cairo)
Although Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, had previously spoken about the future of Didier Deschamps, coach of the “Les Bleus” national team, after the end of the European Nations Cup “Euro 2024” last summer, and renewed confidence in him at the time to continue his mission until the end of his contract in the 2026 World Cup, many voices have been raised calling for Deschamps’ departure recently, especially after the loss to the Italian national team 1-3, at the “Parc des Princes” stadium in the French capital, Paris.
The question has returned again, how long will Deschamps remain at the helm of the national team? Why doesn’t he leave now, and a search is being made for an alternative with a new mindset and a different vision that will “inject” blood back into the team before entering the “battle” of the World Cup qualifiers and finals.
This trend was discussed during an interview Diallo gave to the newspaper “L’Equipe”, and it was a suitable opportunity for the president of the federation to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, and end this “sterile” debate about the future of the technical director.
At first, Diallo referred to Deschamps’ journey with the national team, over 12 years until now, during which he won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, then reached the final of the 2022 World Cup, as well as the final of “Euro 2016”, and his exit from the semi-finals of “Euro 2024” at the hands of the Spanish team “La Roja”, which won the tournament cup after that.
Despite these good achievements, which are in line with the goals set by the federation for Deschamps, the coach remained the subject of constant accusations by a not-so-small segment of French fans, and this surprised Diallo, and made him disagree with what this segment of fans said.
Diallo stressed that he does not share the opinion of Deschamps’ critics, because the achievements he made during his tenure speak for him and are considered “exceptional” work. He said: I received him after “Euro 2024”, and he also appeared before the Executive Committee of the Federation, and the only remark directed at him at the time was the need to inject new blood into the national team and gradually get rid of the “old guard”, and this was agreed upon. As for the technical staff, we found them strong, effective and talented in their work, and they achieved the goals we agreed upon during the past stage.
Diallo added: Deschamps has started to achieve what we asked for, and has already added new elements to the national team such as Olise, Kone and Badie this September, and is on his way to adding more promising new faces.
Diallo stressed that the French national team is led by the “right person” and if any possible departure by Deschamps is ruled out at the present time, the first official in charge of French football is not thinking at all now about extending his contract beyond the 2026 World Cup, commenting on that by saying: This is not an urgent matter, even if we acknowledge that Deschamps is the one with the best achievements in the history of French football, and that his results are the most eloquent response to some “defeatists”, and that he has fulfilled his mission to the fullest, and he is determined to continue it until the end.
