Didier Drogba believes that France has an important ‘advantage’ over Argentina World Cup definitively in Qatar.
France will attempt to become the first team in 60 years to retain the World Cup trophy when they meet Argentina at Lusail Stadium on Sunday.
Didier Deschamps’ side finished top of Group D before beating Poland, England and Morocco in the knockout stage.
Argentina topped Group C despite a shock opening defeat to Saudi Arabia, beating Australia, the Netherlands and Croatia on their way to a sixth World Cup final.
As Argentina attempts to win the World Cup for a third time in Lionel Messi’s final tournament, France is attempting to become just the third team to successfully defend the title.
Drogba believes France’s experience of not only reaching but winning the previous final gives them an ‘advantage’ over Argentina, with ten from France’s 2018 squad and World Cup winning manager Deschamps in Qatar.
“France has the advantage of being in the final and winning it four years ago,” the former Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker said. BBC Sports.
“You know how to handle the pressure, you’ve been there, but they have new players and it will be new for them.
“It may be the first time that some of them also play against Lionel Messi. The pressure will be there.
“This French team is very competitive, especially with Didier Deschamps as their manager. They want to win it back to back.
Argentina will know that the French team doesn’t like to take a lot of hits. Argentina are very aggressive and they won’t let Kylian Mbappé enter the game.
“They’ll try to block him because they know he’s the main guy. It will be difficult for them to tackle Tchouameni, Griezmann and even Dembele.
“We don’t talk about Dembele, I think he helped Jules Kounde a lot. He worked very hard.’
Winning the World Cup would complete Messi’s extraordinary career – he suffered heartbreak in the 2014 final against Germany – but France is determined to ruin the fairy tale.
“Messi is an incredible player, but we are not going to let him enjoy the best night he can have,” said striker Olivier Giroud. We want to win this match. We want to win another World Cup.
“We will do everything we can to stop him. But there is not only Messi in that team. They have great players who also work for the team. I think that’s why they’re so strong.’
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