France bowed out of Euro 2024 following a 2-1 defeat to Spain in the semi-finals, in Munich on Tuesday. Speaking post-match, Didier Deschamps stated that he believes that fitness concerns around the squad played a role.
Les Bleus have never looked at their fluent best, not aided by the lack of form of some of his key players, notably Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann. The form of the former came as a particular surprise. The France captain looked out of sorts all tournament. Granted, he wasn’t helped by his fractured nose, which forced him to play with a mask for much of the tournament, however, there were fitness concerns surrounding the Real Madrid forward even prior to the tournament, as he himself admitted.
Deschamps also evoked fitness issues when he made the controversial choice to drop Griezmann in the final group-stage game, against Poland. For the France manager, this played a part in the failure to reach the final in Germany. “Even if we pushed until the end, my players weren’t at 100% for this competition, for different reasons,” said Deschamps in a post-match press conference, attended by Get French Football News.