The French national football side gathered to train at the Stade de France in the Paris suburb Saint-Denis on Monday in preparation for a friendly match against Spain.
France tops their World Cup qualifying group after a 3-1 victory in Luxembourg put Didier Deschamps’ side a step closer to a place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Deschamps acknowledged that the match against Spain will be much tougher than the relatively straightforward victory over Luxembourg.
“We will play against a high-level team with a lot of qualities, obviously it’s not at all the same style of match we had on Saturday,” Deschamps said.
The friendly also gives Deschamps a chance to try out several young players like striker Kylian Mbappe, midfielders Tiemoue Bakayoko and Thomas Lemar, and defender Benjamin Mendy.
“They have their feet on the ground, they work a lot during training and we can see they want to be part of this team so that’s the best for us,” said midfielder Antoine Griezmann.
Meanwhile, the Spanish national team also gathered to train at the Stade de France in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on Monday in preparation for a friendly match against France.
Both sides go into the game full of confidence after World Cup qualifying victories at the weekend, Spain strolled to a 4-1 win at home to Israel on Friday while on Saturday, France won 3-1 in Luxembourg.
Spain top qualifying Group G with 13 points from five games to stay ahead of Italy on goal difference.
France stayed three points ahead of Sweden in Group A also with 13 points from five games.
Spain coach Julen Lopetegui said his that despite the friendly nature of the match his players would take the game seriously.
The last time the two sides met was also in a friendly in Paris, Didier Deschamps team running out 1-0 winners on that occasion.
source: Reuters
