“We leave with a great victory”

Vincent Gerard

“We said to ourselves that it could add extra pressure with the injury of Jim Gottfridson who must also have made an impression. It was twice in a row that the Swedes beat us in the semi-finals. The first time they latted us. The second time, we lost by one goal when we had the chance to equalize at the last second. We managed to get our heads together, to tell ourselves that each match has its story. It’s a real pleasure because we took the match by the right end and we knew how to manage the little weak time of the second half, where they come back to two goals. This is where they could have triggered a positive dynamic. We leave with a great victory that does not suffer from any dispute. It’s a real satisfaction and a great pride this (Friday) evening. It’s starting to be long, we see the guys hurting themselves and everyone very tired. We compare it to a washing machine. There, we are at the end of the cycle, in spin mode. Inevitably, it can quickly become difficult. We were able to find the resources. We were able to make rotations with Romain Lagarde, who has hardly played since the start of the tournament, who brought his stone to the building. A nine-game competition is very hard to manage. We were able to put them in check, make them doubt, push them into an area they weren’t used to, take them out of their comfort zone. I am happy this (Friday) evening but the competition does not stop there. Even if it means playing to the end, you might as well win. »

Nedim Remili

“I think that our greatest pride is to have talked a lot about the fact that we were united, welded, that it was a group that lived well on and off the field. We proved it in this semi-final during which we were solid from start to finish. We talked a lot tactically between us, we put things in place. Everyone stuck to it and it gives this kind of result. Beating Sweden at home in front of 22,000 people, it’s huge what we just did. We were very solid, very united. At the end, we could even hear the French supporters, it’s magnificent. We play a sport in which we put a lot of energy. We know that at some point, the more we draw on our resources, the more we are led to lose balls and lose lucidity. Despite everything, we are confident, strong in our defense, strong in our goalkeepers and strong in our game. We are solid in all areas. We know where to hit, we know our strengths. We also know these little moments of low time but we know that the France team has the ability to score goals from everywhere, from far, close, to go to the duel, to give our pivots. But above all to be solid defensively and that’s what we base our success on. To concede 26 goals against Sweden at home, one of the teams that runs the most with us in this World Cup, it’s great. »

Kentin Mahe

“It’s incredible, it’s magic! We prepared very, very well for this meeting. This is the positive point of this match. We held them from start to finish and we won with style. I’m full of emotion, it’s great. »

Ludovic Fabregas

“We are very satisfied tonight. We had a great match on both sides of the field. We had prepared very well for this match on video, both offensively and defensively. I think we channeled them for an hour. Taking the score from the start gave us a period of confidence that we were able to maintain during the 60 minutes. Conversely, the Swedes fell into our trap and ran behind the score throughout the match. We analyzed their defense well, we knew that there were spaces behind but we had to know how to use them. That’s why we had predefined some specific triggers on this match. We are really very happy that it was able to work. We are going to savor a little bit but we know that this moment is very short in the end because we are going to have to quickly switch to the final against Denmark. We know it will be a very big game and we hope to give the best possible performance to put all the chances on our side to win a new world title. »

Guillaume Gilles

“I am above all proud of the boys in what they were able to put into this game, in the preparation for this match, in the way they united around this project to beat this particular team. We don’t like the Nordic teams too much generally, they escape a lot, there are a lot of very fast passes, a very polished game which often suits us a little less. There, we caused them a lot of problems in the defensive sector and, offensively, we were also able to be very consistent in our game and make good use of the situations we got into despite the pressure and sometimes a little special refereeing. A very successful match but it was necessary in this context to hope to progress to the final. We talked about the recent history of our past confrontations with Sweden and the headache we had after those matches, which were a little missed in sequence but in very different contexts. Of course it’s present in the minds of these boys who are memory machines and who remember each confrontation, who feed on these duels. I think we were in a very special environment, playing against the Swedish people in their competition, it was something that galvanized the team and allowed us to produce our most complete match since the start of the competition. »

Source: beIN Sports