France’s Deschamps unruffled by Argentinian officials helming Morocco quarter-final

• Repeat of last World Cup final v Argentina still possible

• ‘We have to deal with it,’ France’s head coach says

Didier Deschamps has insisted he is not concerned by the appointment of Argentinian officials to oversee the World Cup quarter-final between France and Morocco on Thursday, with a repeat of the 2022 final against Argentina still possible. “We have to deal with it,” he said. “I trust the referees. Our opponent is Morocco, not the referee.”

The France head coach, though, is not a natural diplomat. This was a characteristically combative display from Deschamps, who spent at least 90 seconds at the end of his press conference explaining why he really did not have time to answer one final question, before reluctantly answering, grumpily. He couldn’t resist a jibe at those, many in the north African media, who had criticised the French official François Letexier’s performance during the last-16 game between Argentina and Egypt on Tuesday.

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