France manager Didier Deschamps has called on his team to “respect what Poland do” ahead of their round of 16 clash at the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The defending champions successfully navigated the first stage of the 2022 edition of the global showpiece in which they are defending their 2018 title. After topping their group, they got tied against Poland, who qualified in second place in their group.
The game has been billed as an easy game for Les Bleus, but Deschamps, who became only the third manager to win the title as both a player and a coach and is looking to successfully become the second manager to defend the title, asked his charges to pay respect to their opponents ahead of their clash on Sunday night.
“Today, even a great nation, if she is not ready, can have unpleasant situations,” Deschamps warned. “All the games are difficult, all the teams are good and prepared. The players all play in good leagues.
“This team has had to defend in the first three games, defend a lot and they defend very well. They love it.
“They have a hardcore of players with good experience. You have to respect what this team does, they deserve to be there.”
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe will meet with Robert Lewandowski once again for the first time after he urged the Polish striker to join him at Paris Saint-Germain this past summer.
Mbappe was playing agent for the Parisian club while discussing the details of his bumper contract. After signing the deal, he was reported to have asked the club to sign a world class striker to play alongside him in the French capital. French publication Le Parisien says Mbappe’s choice of striker was Lewandowski, who himself was set to leave Bayern Munich at the time after eight seasons with the German giants.
Let Parisien reports that the 2018 World Cup winner went as far as meeting with Lewandowski on May 26 in Cannes to try and persuade the Poland star to PSG. Ultimately Mbappe’s efforts were in vain, as Lewandowski was determined to move to Barcelona.
Both players are having amazing season with their clubs but are having very different World Cup outings. Mbappe is more than likely to have the last laugh when they meet because of the limitations of the Polish national team.
Poland coach Czesław Michniewicz has urged his players to provide more service for the Barcelona striker so that he can help them influence the game against a France side that has a lot of killers.
