Deschamps Warns Against Complacency As France Target World Cup And Euro Double

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2021 ) :Didier Deschamps captained France to a World Cup and European Championship double as a player and is now hoping to repeat the feat as coach when the delayed Euro 2020 finally goes ahead in June and July.

However, in an exclusive interview with AFP, the 52-year-old warned against any complacency from the defending world champions, saying major international tournaments are not won "just by clicking your fingers".

After lifting the World Cup in Russia in 2018, a gifted France squad is inevitably among the favourites to win the European Championship which concludes in London on July 11.

However they could not have asked for a harder group in the first Euro to be held -- despite the pandemic -- in multiple countries all across the continent.

France play Germany in Munich and Hungary in Budapest, as well as facing the reigning European champions Portugal.

"Two years at the highest level is a long time, even if it is not a lot in life in general.

There are obviously big expectations after the success we have had and that is the aim of this squad, of this generation," Deschamps told AFP in Monaco as he pondered the chances of doing the double.

West Germany held both trophies when they won the 1974 World Cup on home soil after winning the European Championship when it was just a four-nation event in Belgium in 1972.

Spain then pulled off the remarkable feat of winning back to back Euros in 2008 and 2012, either side of their 2010 World Cup triumph.

Before that Deschamps skippered France to glory in 1998 and at Euro 2000 as they defeated Italy in extra time in the final in Rotterdam.

He has gone on to enjoy a remarkable coaching career, having success at Monaco, Juventus and Marseille before accepting the France job in 2012 and reviving the fortunes of the national team in stunning fashion.