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.