Didier Deschamps, the coach of France, has said that his squad will do “everything humanly possible” to prevent Lionel Messi from winning the 2022 World Cup as they face Argentina in the tournament final.
France’s road to a back-to-back World Cup title win is by overcoming Messi’s Argentina, and Deschamps has declared they are ready to do so.
Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani scored for the world cup defending champions in the semifinals to give them a 2-0 victory over the tournament’s underdogs Morocco.
When asked about Argentina’s quest for their third World Cup and Messi’s desire to follow in Diego Maradona’s footsteps by winning the trophy, Deschamps said, “We will do everything humanly possible for that not to happen. At the end of the match, someone is getting a third star on their shirt.”
Deschamps continued by comparing the current Argentina team to the one his France team defeated in Russia four years ago.
Deschamps said, “He [Messi] actually played as a centre-forward against us, which caught us by surprise four years ago.
“Whereas now he is in tandem, just in behind the centre-forward, he is picking up the ball a lot and he is running with it and looking in great form.
“He is one of the best players in the world and he has shown that, so of course we are going to try and counter Messi’s threat and stop him influencing the game and Argentina will try and stop the influence of some of my players.
“This Argentina side is different to the one we played four years ago.
“We have two sides with a great deal of quality and it will be up to key players to make a difference, maybe the team that makes fewest mistakes will win the game.”
France defeated Argentina 4-3 in the round of 16, on its way to winning the World Cup for the second time in 2018.
