Hugo Lloris will be titular and captain this Tuesday evening in Finland despite a meeting without a stake for the France team. Didier Deschamps announced it at a press conference a few minutes after the passage of the French goalkeeper. “We did everything to recover well and prepare in the best possible way,” assured the main interested party to the French media at the Olympic stadium in Helsinki.
It’s a crucial match for Finland, not for France. Where do you find the motivation?
HUGO LLORIS. As you say, we got the job done. We are qualified. But when you wear this jersey, you always have an obligation of result. It’s always important to find challenges. We are focusing on the idea of finishing the year well with the Blues.
Do you feel in some players that this game may be different?
There are far fewer stakes than the previous match. There will be a reflection on the part of the coach and the staff on the composition of the team. We know the context. Finns can make history (Editor’s note: they have never played a final phase of the World Cup). They are going to enter the game hard to get into the dams. There will be atmosphere. It will be a terrain that may be more difficult than that of the Parc des Princes, in a difficult climate. But you have to do everything to play an international match. There is always this pride to wear the jersey of the Blues. Players need to highlight themselves one year from the World Cup. Games with the Blues, there are few. When opportunities arise, they must be seized.
If you don’t lose tomorrow, you will equal the record of 27 unbeaten games set by the generation of your coach Didier Deschamps. Does it matter?
Everything is good to take. The stats speak for themselves, although it doesn’t replace a trophy or major wins. In a certain logic, we want to continue on this dynamic.
Should this match be used to continue working the system in 3-5-2?
You have to go all out, trying to achieve a good collective performance. We have been playing in this system for several matches, in important matches or against more affordable opponents. Repetition helps to gain benchmarks.
You only need seven caps to equal Lilian Thuram’s record (142 caps). Is it a personal motivation?
Everything is good to take in selection. Each game has a special flavor. In a career, we remember the numbers. It was never a precise ambition. But we are there at the service of the coach. We do everything we can to be ready, with pleasure, pride and the desire to win.
It will be cold tomorrow night. Does this change anything?
In the management of the match, yes. When you’re a goalkeeper, you try to stay active so as not to catch a cold. We manage the matches differently depending on the climate. It will be natural.
