Mbappe: France is good at “playing dirty” when needed sports

French national team captain Kylian Mbappe confirmed his team’s readiness to provide everything necessary to continue its journey in the World Cup finals, after overcoming the “tense” stage of the eighth final by defeating its Paraguayan counterpart with a clean goal, in the confrontation that brought them together on Saturday in the American city of Philadelphia, amid a hot and tense atmosphere.

Mbappe scored the only goal of the match in the 70th minute from a penalty kick, raising his scoring tally in the current edition of the tournament to 7 goals, and reaching his 19th goal in his total historic participation in World Cup tournaments. The confrontation witnessed repeated provocations from Paraguayan players and attempts to influence the morale of French players.

In press statements after the match, Mbappe said: “We knew what kind of match awaited us, and I think we dealt with it well today.” The Spanish Real Madrid star added, hinting at the opponent’s view of his team: “They thought that we would come in official suits, and that we would just show off our skills and play nicely.”

We played their style

Mbappe continued his speech in a decisive tone: “But we know how to play the dirty game as well. I apologize for the expression, but we have no problem with that. We did that today, and we won, and we were better than them even in this aspect,” adding: “The way we played today showed that we are not a team that relies only on attack. If we have to engage in physical conflict, we have no problem with that.”

The match numbers reflected a rough and tense nature. Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev only showed three yellow cards, all of which went to French players, in a match that witnessed a clash between players from both sides before the penalty kick was taken, in addition to continuous attempts by Paraguayan players to confuse the kicker.

The French captain commented on this atmosphere, saying: “This is their style, and this is their way of playing. Each team plays according to its strengths. There is no right or wrong way. There is only one way, which is to win.” He added: “They tried to outperform us in their own way, but we also outperformed them. Now we are heading to the next stage.”

With this victory, the French team will face an expected quarter-final match with its Moroccan counterpart next Thursday in Boston, in a replay of the semi-final match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which had ended in favor of coach Didier Deschamps’ squad with two unanswered goals.

An expected summit against Morocco in the quarter-finals

With this victory, the French team sets an expected date in the quarter-finals with its Moroccan counterpart, in a rematch of the semi-final of the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, which had ended in favor of the “Roosters” with two unanswered goals.

For his part, the coach of the French national team, Didier Deschamps, considered that his team had passed an “important milestone” in the World Cup journey, stressing at the same time that the match was not easy at all.

Deschamps explained in the press conference after the match: “Paraguay plays with all possible means, and its style may not present the football that attracts fans to the stands, but it depends on physical rush and tackles, which increases the difficulty of the confrontation.”

Deschamps…we have overcome a complex confrontation in the “mud”

The coach praised the discipline of his players, saying: “We did not lose our focus throughout the match. It was difficult, as they have defensive intensity and are good at organisation. Of course, the high temperatures do not help in playing at a high pace, but even without offensive intensity they defended well,” continuing: “We have passed an important stage, as confronting South American teams is always complicated.”

In his reading of the refereeing performance and the tension that prevailed in the green rectangle, Deschamps preferred not to place blame on the refereeing staff, but he expressed his regret for the quarrels and offensive expressions exchanged between the players in a confrontation that was characterized by extreme intensity.

He said in this regard: “I will not criticize the referee, but we ended the match with three yellow cards, while I saw many other things. I will not criticize the Paraguayan national team, as each team plays according to its capabilities, but the insults would have been better if they had not happened. The most important thing is that things did not develop into problems in the end, but that remains talk because we qualified.”

Deschamps concluded his statements by pointing out the future benefits of this confrontation: “It was a closed match, full of tackles and stops, but the players were prepared for that. I am happy that they maintained their focus, and this will give them important experience for the future. We knew that we would play a special match, and I am convinced that it will benefit us. We maintained our nerves, and this was necessary,” describing the match in his final speech as “a match in difficult circumstances, in the mud as we say.”