Orlando Gill, gardien du Paraguay : « Je suis allé voir Mbappé à la fin du match pour le féliciter mais il a refusé de me serrer la main »
Orlando Gill, the Paraguayan goalkeeper, believes France is among the teams "candidates" to become world champions. The French team, for their part, are pleased that they did not react to the provocations on Saturday during their World Cup round of 16 match (1-0).
Never before in the tournament had the French celebrated like this. The public jubilation was short-lived, but the few minutes spent jumping and dancing in front of their fans were enough to convey their relief. This Paraguay-France match (1-0) was a battle for Les Bleus, who were physically and mentally tested, forced to keep their composure and maintain extreme focus in the face of their opponents' provocations.
Through physical attacks, verbal abuse, simulations, and demeanor, the Paraguayans used every tactic to lure the French into their trap. Didier Deschamps had prepared his players, emphasizing in his pre-match speech the importance of remaining calm under all circumstances. Kylian Mbappé was the Frenchman most targeted by the Paraguayans, and he expected it.
Feeling of distrust
“We knew what kind of match we were going to have, and I think today was a very good match, the way we played it. We showed that we're not just a team that knows how to play attacking football,” he explained after the match to M6. “If we have to get our hands dirty, we'll get our hands dirty, sorry for the expression. We have no problem with that. They thought we were going to come in tuxedos, that we were just going to come and make some nice plays and one-twos. We know how to play dirty football too. We did it today, we won, and even in that, we were better than them.”
Nevertheless, a sense of defiance towards the Paraguayan team was palpable in the French players' comments. "We were prepared for this, we knew we weren't going to showcase our technical skills," smiled Rayan Cherki after the match. "For the past few days, the coach has been reminding us that they were going to try to throw us off our game. There's no nervousness on our side; we know our strengths. Their strength is their fighting spirit, and we showed today that if teams think we're not capable of that... We showed that we know how to fight. What we did today was extraordinary; we saw warriors on the pitch."
"I'd never seen a match like that, with so many dirty tricks and pushes in the back. It was tough."
Bradley Barcola
There were inevitable complaints about their opponents, but also about the referee who had given three yellow cards to the French players and none to the Red and Whites. "How many cards did they get?" asked Cherki ironically, already knowing the answer. Zero. "The referee could have calmed them down with a few yellow cards, but we knew that," continued William Saliba. "We're not going to let them get away with it. We got a few yellow cards but no red cards, that's the most important thing. Sometimes these are battles, and you have to know how to win them." "I've never seen a match like that, with so many dirty tricks, so many pushes in the back. It was tough," admitted Bradley Barcola.
The Paraguayans, tough on the pitch, were the better players after the match. "I went to see Mbappé after the game to congratulate him, but he refused to shake my hand," described goalkeeper Orlando Gill, the man of the match. "France is among the contenders to be world champions." On Thursday in Boston, for the quarter-final against Morocco, Les Bleus will face an opponent with a very different style and will be able to try to showcase their technical prowess once again. But it doesn't matter to them, as long as they can celebrate at the end.
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