Mind games? What else! France is the best team of all time in the current World Cup. The French top the pre-match favorite rankings regardless of the opponent. However, France coach Didier Deschamps thinks Spain is the favorite in the first semi-final. In this match, the French are supposed to be the underdog!
Deschamps Dr. in a press conference before the semi-finals. He thinks Spain’s attack and defense are both pretty good. Despite a goalless draw against Cape Verde in their opening match, Spain are slowly finding their rhythm in the tournament. France have also lost their last two matches against Spain.
For these reasons, Spain will go ahead in this match, ‘forget the first match against Cape Verde. Since then, Spain have proven in every match that they are the tournament favourites. But I don’t want to put any extra pressure on Luis (the Spanish coach). “He knows how much people expect from this team.”
“Spain can attack well, but their defense is also excellent. They have only scored 1 goal in the last 6 or 7 games.’
The Spain coach, however, does not identify himself as a favorite. He rather laughed at Deschamp’s comments at the press conference.
Rejecting the favorite theory, Luis de la Fuente said: “I’ve said from the beginning, it doesn’t matter if people say we’re favorites or not. It doesn’t affect the game on the field. “We’re two great teams facing each other, just like two great teams will fight in the other semi-final.”
France captain Kylian Mbappe left the field with an injury in the quarter-final against Morocco. His injury is a cause for concern among French fans. However, before the semi-finals, Deschamps dismissed that fear. He confirmed that captain Mbappe is now fully recovered and 100 per cent fit for the semi-final against Spain.