French players surround Marcel Desailly (centre, squatting) including captain - and current national team coach - Didier Deschamps (centre, standing) after the emphatic 3-0 1998 World Cup final victory against Brazil. at the Stade de France in Saint Denis. (Image Credit: AP)
Berlin: Marcel Desailly believes Euro 2016 will soothe a country that is still torn by the terrorist attacks that left close to 140 people dead in Paris in November.
“We need hope, football brings hope,” the retired player, 47, said in an interview with DPA.
The former centre-back, whose ancestors hail from Ghana, knows full well what it is to make a whole country proud: he was a pillar of the legendary France team that won the France 1998 World Cup and the euros in Belgium and the Netherlands two years later.
Now Desailly hopes manager Didier Deschamps has again put together “some sort of a group” to end a troubled decade for French football.
Does this euros have a special meaning for France after last year’s attacks?
It is obviously a bit of a special moment, in terms of security and of how France will react to what happened. I think all together we will show that sport is stronger than anything and that no one can come and interfere with that. We have the capacity to host a great tournament. There is great hope in that, both in terms of sports and because of what happened.
Does playing before your own fans adds a special kind of pressure, particularly for a young team like the current France?
We don’t know. All of them play in big teams, big clubs, so they know what it’s about, the pressure. The national team pressure is something very, very special. I remember I was used to playing big games, but once it was in France the pressure was hard, the pressure was very difficult to handle. We almost lost our ability because of the pressure. It was very difficult. But they can make it, they can make it for the nation. We need it. You asked me a question about the terrorist attacks: we need hope, football brings hope.
Will the emotions that persist after the attacks add even more pressure to the team?
I don’t know really. You know, footballers are a little bit selfish, in the sense that all is prepared for us. We are in a bubble. We are not open to what’s going on outside. So the players will be very well protected and have only one objective, which is to play football and to win at football. They will not take that pressure that you are talking about, that responsibility. They will not see that.
Franck Ribery is still at a good level with Bayern Munich. Could he have helped this team?
He is a great player, but remember that he pulled himself out. Nobody told him: look, it’s time for you to retire. So now the team has rebuilt the connection and all that, it’s difficult. When you look at, tactically, how France is trying to play, Ribery has only one position. We’ve tried him on the right, it doesn’t work. We’ve tried him as a playmaker, it doesn’t work, in the long run. Only on the left. Didier has to play with three midfielders: Lassana Diarra, (Paul) Pogba, (Blaise) Matuidi ... We have a lot of players. So can he sacrifice his tactics for Ribery coming in? Is Ribery capable of staying on the bench, at his age, for a Euro? There’s many elements that you have to consider that give you more or less an answer.
Another French player at Bayern Munich who is having a great season is Kingsley Coman. Would you have called him up for the national team?
I would take him, even if he’s young! He’s not the first choice, obviously, but the power he brings when he comes in can change a game.
Do people in France find it surprising that the national team has got back so much talent?
We are happy more than surprised, we are happy that finally we have some sort of a group. We were a bit worried about what was going to be the next generation. [Laurent] Blanc finished his term, Deschamps came into the system, and he made a lot of trials with many players. So now we feel that we have a group. The story [Mathieu] Valbuena-[Karim] Benzema came in ... They pulled themselves out of it, I think. But it didn’t affect the group: the group is still there, there’s still the quality. Is [Andre-Pierre] Gignac going to come [through]? What about [Olivier] Giroud at Arsenal? Is he still at the level to participate at a Euro? So the problem Didier has is there are so many players you don’t want to sacrifice one of them, so every time you have to readjust your tactical side according to the players, and it’s very difficult for him.
