France and Denmark today played a goal-less draw in the on-going 2018 FIFA World Cup. The French had already qualified while Denmark needed a draw to ensure their qualification.
According to Didier Deschamps, the French coach “We have reached our goal and the most important thing for us was to top the group. It has not ended up a very exciting match because the Danish team were satisfied with a draw as it meant they would qualify. But all the same, while their defence was very good, we had a number of scoring opportunities. We didn’t need to take risks in the match though as this result was ok for everyone. We tried to get a win but the last 15 minutes was, shall we say, a ‘neutral’ kind of match. It was a choice on Denmark’s part and you can understand it because they had reached their goal. It’s complicated for everyone [at the World Cup]. If you look at Spain, or Germany, they have had some difficulties too. Every team is fit physically, well organised, and we need to be prepared for more tough challenges.”
For Age Hareide, Denmark’s Coach it was a relief. He said “We just needed a point and were up against one of the best counter-attacking teams in the world, so we would have been stupid to come out and attack. We’re very pleased with the 0-0. Our goal was to progress to the last 16 and we had a tough group – one of the toughest in the competition, I believe. In fact, the team that has ended up with three points, Peru, probably played the best! But football is an ongoing process and you have to be able to handle playing different styles. It was a good performance by the boys, very disciplined, and they sacrificed everything to take us on to the next stage of the competition. For the team, this has been wonderful.”