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by IANS |
Doha (Qatar), Dec 15 (IANS) France coach Didier Deschamps praised his players after a 2-0 win over Morocco in the second World Cup semifinal booked them a place in Sunday's final.
France will play Argentina, looking to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win consecutive World Cups.
"There's emotion, there's pride, there's going to be a final step," said Deschamps on French TV after the final whistle.
The coach admitted that it had been a difficult game against Morocco, who had over 60 percent of the ball, news agency Xinhua reported.
"We have been together with the players for a month and it's never easy, but there's happiness so far," he said.
Man-of-the-Match, Antoine Griezmann said he was "already thinking about Sunday's final" against Argentina,
"We will have to be focused, recover well and prepare for Sunday's match," he added, before praising Lionel Messi.
"When a team has Leo with them, it's completely different. We have seen almost all their (Argentina's) matches, we know how they play. They are a very difficult team and they are in a good place.
"They are a group that gets on well with each other like us and they will have their supporters with them," commented Griezmann.
The forward also had praise for Morocco. "They impressed me, they worked very well tactically, defensively and offensively. They gave us a lot of problems," he concluded.
French President Emmanuel Macron watched the match from the stands and celebrated France's win.
"Our compatriots need simple and pure joy, sport provides it and soccer in particular. We suffered a lot but we saw a great team. A huge thank you to our coach and to this team which is in fact a mixture of several generations and that is what is great," commented Macron.
