PHILADELPHIA — France manager Didier Deschamps believes he knows what to expect from the extreme heat forecast for Saturday’s World Cup round of 16 clash with Paraguay after attending matches at last year’s Club World Cup.
Highs are forecast around 100 degrees Fahrenheit with significant humidity, with the peak temperatures expected an hour or two before the 5 p.m. ET kickoff.
Similar heat impacted numerous matches at last year’s club tournament also hosted in the United States.
“I was with (assistant coach) Guy Stéphan at the final and semi-final of the Club World Cup,” Deshcamps said on Friday through an interpreter. “We were in the stadium. We could discuss. We saw that it was quite hot, and we could discuss. And it did have an impact.
“Now, is this good for the players’ health as soon as there are extreme conditions, whether it’s heat or cold or hard pitch? It’s not ideal.
“But we didn’t choose, so we adapt and we anticipate.”
Deschamps also reflected on the last time these sides met in a competitive fixture, when he played all 120 minutes of a 1-0 win over Paraguay in the round of 16 on France’s march to the 1998 World Cup title.
He suggested Saturday’s task could be as tough as that match, decided by Laurent Blanc’s 114th-minute winner.
“It was a very good time for France. It was a very tough game. This is part of the history of football and the World Cup,” he said.
“This match tomorrow is different. It is a different team. It is a Paraguayan team who really wants to do it and they have quality.
“(Julio) Enciso, for example, has had a very good season with Strasbourg in France. He is a player with lots of influence in his team. Him and (Miguel) Almiron are players with great technical quality.”
With oddsmakers heavily backing the two-time World Champions from the start of the tournament, midfielder Desire Doue insisted Les Bleus won’t change their approach nor overlook an Albirroja side most expected to lose to Germany in the previous round.
“We have no pressure,” he said through an interpreter. “We’re playing games after games. We are focused on ourselves. There are a lot of qualities.
“We have been the favorite before the competition started. We will be the favorite for tomorrow. But I do not believe that these (statuses) will help us win a game.
“It’s not that that will help us win. We will need to be perfect from the first to the last minute. We’ll have to be there.”
Doue admitted he expected heat to impact performance.
“Well, yes, we are wasting a lot of energy,” he said. “We are sweating more, wasting more water. We might lose some lucidity on the pitch. We arrived in the US. It was hot. Today, it’s hotter. And so be it tomorrow.
“Both teams will experience the same conditions, and we are fully ready for this game.”
–Ian Nicholas Qullen, Field Level Media
