the coronation of youth, discipline and aggressiveness

Two decades after the coronation of Zidane et al., Mbappé caught a second star in the French team jersey by overturning (4-2) Luka Modric's bluffing Croatia in a totally unrestrained final . With an unstoppable shot down, the winger of Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) has even paid the luxury of registering his fourth goal of the competition and to complete the victory of the Blues against a selection to checkered worn to the cord by his three extensions swallowed on the road to Moscow.

"We will be in history forever", said with compunction, between two steps of dance, the leader of the new wave – voted the best young player in the tournament – who has just installed French football on the roof of the world for four years

A machine to win

Second youngest scorer in the World Cup final behind the Brazilian Pelé, author of a double in the Swedish edition from 1958 to 17 years and eight months, Mbappé refers to the crazy bet that had launched Deschamps: make a selection "green" (26 years of average of age) and relatively inexperienced a machine to win. "I had a very young group, fourteen of twenty-three players were discovering a World Cup. It was a bit unknown but they did it ", emphasized the Bayonne. The latter became the third man – after the Brazilian Mario Zagallo and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer – to win the tournament as a player and coach.

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Who could have predicted the coronation of this conquering youth, played by side-backs Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez (22), after his tough tournament start on June 16 against Australia? That day, Deschamps had only lined up three players over 25 years old. The short victory (2-1) against the Socceroos had pushed him to review his game system and out his grunts Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi (31 years) from the closet to beef up his training.

The adjustments made during The success (1-0) in sweat and tears against Peru on June 21 marked a turning point. Like a general at the head of docile soldiers, Deschamps then transformed his team into a disciplined commando and ready to endure the worst suffering to go to the end.

Rise in power

On June 30, in eighths of final, the disheveled victory (4-3) of the Blues against Argentina by Lionel Messi testified to their rise to impotence on the athletic level. It was the triumph of endurance, stubbornness and speed. The indefatigable midfielder N'Golo Kanté then embodied the virtues of intense physical preparation, thought to allow the Tricolores to take off from the knockout matches.

Great strategist, watered observation reports and montages video made by his staff, Deschamps has continuously adapted to the game of the opponent to prepare its deadlines. "All chances are put on our side, so we know exactly what we have to do on the field", explained the center forward Olivier Giroud, which will never have makes the net shake in Russia, spending most of its time shouting to press the opponent.

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Spiritual son of ex-coach Aimé Jacquet, crowned on the bench twenty years before him, Deschamps relied on an ultra-defensive block and offensive players capable of projecting and killing the game against counter

The victory gained while mastering against Uruguay (2-0) on July 6, in quarters, highlighted this impressive solidity coupled with an insolent realism in front of the opposing cage. Under the reign of Deschamps, marked by the seal of pragmatism, this team of France has sometimes been particularly caricatural, giving the impression of refusing the game and suffer to better surprise the opponent. This was the case against the very spectacular Belgium of this late dribbler Eden Hazard, June 10, in the semifinals. To the point that the Red Devils, bad losers (0-1) and disgusted by the strategy of demolition of the Tricolores, have depicted them in earnestly small.

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"You can ask the question, are we beautiful world champions? We are world champion, that's what we must remember, insisted Deschamps, carried in triumph and sprinkled with champagne by his protégés. We did things better than others, with more control. The players have never dropped anything.

"Cohesion"

Two years after his defeat (0-1 after extra time) in the final of Euro 2016 against Portugal, the technician could also rely on his frames to take his however. No one can blame the goaltender Hugo Lloris his blunder, in the final, on the late goal of Mario Mandzukic, which is anecdote. Acrobatic on his line, the captain of 104 selections has saved his troops against Uruguay in particular by performing the parade of the tournament on a point blank from Martin Caceres. Under water, he became the second French captain to be awarded the trophy for the World Cup, twenty years after his coach.

The central hinge composed of Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti also held the hut. Masters of the air, the two defenders have even turned into providential scorers: the first has unblocked the situation against Uruguay with a nice whim, the second opened (also skull) to his partners, against Belgium , the doors of the final. As for the mediums Blaise Matuidi, N'Golo Kanté and Paul Pogba, author of the third goal – that of the rescue – against Croatia, they were the essential cog of the tricolor machine. And what about Antoine Griezmann, technical leader turned towards the collective?

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Designated best player of the final, the latter praised the "cohesion" within the French workforce, splitting an umpteenth "the group lives well. In the closed-door camp of Istra, Deschamps donned his DRH costume while handling the carrot and the stick: "I have sometimes been hard but it's for their good. Management, psychology, that's part of my job. We spent fifty-five days together and there was not a problem.

Before returning to the Hexagon with his players to parade, Monday, July 16 afternoon, on the Champs-Elysees, Deschamps confirmed that he would go to the end of his term, fixed at the Euro 2020. "I am convinced that my players will be stronger in two, four years", promised the coach, under the cheers of journalists. Honors due to his rank of "double" world champion.