— (Reuters) Didier Deschamps, the manager of France, stated he wasn’t concerned by the team’s recent poor performance because “Les Bleus” had only won one of their previous six games.
In League A Group 1 of the Nations League, Deschamps’ team finished third after suffering home losses to Croatia and Denmark and drawing with Austria.
“We now hold the world championship. When you’re at the very top, it’s difficult to do any better,” Deschamps told the FIFA website.
“It’s entirely typical for a team to go through periods of relative ineffectiveness, but France remains a really competitive force and is among the best in the world and Europe.”
In Group D of the World Cup, France will compete against Tunisia, Australia, and Denmark, with Denmark posing the biggest threat to the defending champions.
They are a really powerful side and are perhaps underappreciated.
They’re not a team that people often talk about, but they have strong qualities on an individual level “said Deschamps.
“You already know everything you need to know based on their performance at the most recent Euros and their ranking in the world. They present the greatest threat, at least on paper.
“We know a bit more about Tunisia since many of their players play their club football here in France,” said the 54-year-old, who just marked his tenth anniversary as France’s manager. “Australia knocked out Peru in the qualification play-off for the tournament. None of the games will be simple, we are aware of it.
It’s the toughest competition in the world and we’ll have to make sure we perform better than all of our opponents,” Deschamps said.
France faces Australia to open their campaign on November 22 before playing Denmark four days later and Tunisia on November 30.
Before the World Cup, French manager Deschamps seems unconcerned by recent performance.
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