Didier Deschamps says being France manager is the "most wonderful thing" to happen in his career.
But now Deschamps accepts that France will be public enemy No1 at the World Cup Final with the vast majority in the Lusail Stadium hoping for an Argentina victory. It would complete a final chapter in Lionel Messi 's glittering career for the Argentina superstar to lift the trophy in what will be his last ever World Cup match.
France boss Deschmps has overcome so many hurdles in this tournament from injuries ruling out a raft of big name players like Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante. Now a virus has ripped through the France squad which has hit Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano this week.
It has not been an easy journey for the world champions who won the trophy four years ago and are desperate to retain the World Cup. But Deschamps, 54, insists that leading his nation as coach is a greater feeling than when he was a player despite captaining France to the World Cup in 1998 in a glittering career which included success with Marseille, Juventus and Chelsea.
Deschamps, who has been in charge since 2012, said: "Being France manager has always been the most wonderful thing that has happened to me in my career, I played for France and that was a wonderful achievement and to be coach for so long has been tremendous.
"I am delighted to be France coach but the most important thing is the team. I am at the service of the team and have been for 10 years. It is about the team but I am not the most important person here. It won’t depend on Sunday's result.
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"Argentina always has great support. But we will have French fans as well. Most fans will probably support Argentina because they are Argentinian or will be supporting that team. I think there will be a very festive atmosphere. Argentinians are very passionate people, they get behind their team and that is a positive thing, it is good to have an atmosphere like that in a World Cup Final.
"But our opponents aren’t in the crowd, they are a team we face on the pitch and they are a good enough team to be worried about them. Both teams have the same objective and only one will come out with a third star."
France knocked out Argentina in Russia four years ago at the last 16 stage on the way to winning the World Cup. Now they have an experienced squad with survivors from Moscow including Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris.
But Deschamps insists that Argentina are a different side this time and also that his team have come through different challenges, are better for the experience but they cannot take anything for granted. Deschamps added: "I have just said for a final you always need to prepare slightly differently because emotions can affect players differently.
"I would have said in 2016 it wasn’t perfect for the Euros final but 2018 was much better and the players who were there did a tremendous job, when it is a first final for a player they don’t know what to expect. But it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t deal with your emotions that well. In my team talk and discussions with players I bear in mind that every player is different.
"It is not the same Argentina team at all so there is no point comparing, it was a round of 16 match and the players were completely different. The line ups were different, the style and game plans. But our experience helps us."
