By Adegboyega Adeleye
France head coach Didier Deschamps has challenged his players to be more clinical in front of goal when they face Morocco in Thursday’s FIFA World Cup quarter-final on Thursday.
According to Reuters, Deschamps said France’s potent attack must make better use of its chances despite scoring a tournament-leading 14 goals ahead of the last-eight clash.
“We have to be efficient, offensively speaking,” Deschamps told reporters on Wednesday.
“We are efficient but we could have done better on this front. Sometimes you have six chances and score two goals and sometimes you have two chances and score twice. It is more important to be efficient.”
The quarter-final is a repeat of the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final, when France ended Morocco’s historic run in Qatar. This time, however, Deschamps believes the Atlas Lions arrive as genuine title contenders after eliminating the Netherlands and co-hosts Canada.
“Morocco’s profile is not the one of Paraguay. We met them four years ago in the semi-finals,” he said.
“They played the AFCON final. They have top individuals. They are not here to play. They are here to win. We have to be ready and perform and deliver against this great team.”
France booked their place in the quarter-finals with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paraguay, courtesy of a penalty from captain Kylian Mbappé, who has scored seven goals at the tournament—one behind Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.
Mbappé is expected to spearhead another formidable French attack alongside Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola.
Deschamps also provided an update on midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni, who is recovering from a muscle injury.
“He feels better, but I cannot say more. He might take part in training today. All other players are available,” the France coach said.
He added that FIFA had rejected France’s appeal against Olise’s yellow card from the Paraguay match, meaning the booking will stand heading into the quarter-final.
