World Cup: Why former Chelsea star was removed during final vs Argentina

France’s coach, Didier Deschamps, has disclosed why he decided to take Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele off the pitch before half-time during their 2022 World Cup final against Argentina.

France went two goals down against Argentina after Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria scored within 36 minutes.

Some moments after the goals Deschamps removed Giroud and Dembele, and brought in Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani as substitutes.

His changes saw France battle their way to a 3-3 draw after extra time, before eventually losing the match via a penalty shootout.

“We didn’t do the right things for an hour, but then with a lot of courage, energy and quality, we pushed Argentina to the limit.

“If I made those changes so early, it is because I was not satisfied and I felt convinced we could do better.

“That doesn’t mean the players who went off were more guilty than the others,” Deschamps told reporters of his decision to remove the two players before the interval.