In his latest exclusive Betway blog, our global ambassador previews the World Cup, warns caution over France's opening game against Senegal and praises Portugal's "scary" midfield.
What do you think of the short turnaround between the club football season and the World Cup?
Let’s put the World Cup in perspective – you’re supposed to perform at the highest stage when you’re almost dead physically and mentally. You have to find a way to not celebrate too much if you won at the end of the season, or not get down too much if you lost.
You don’t prepare for the World Cup, you play it. You arrive there when you’re actually the most tired in the season, needing to perform in a place where it’s 35 or 36 degrees and humid. I played in the MLS, and I can tell you how brutal it is.
But look, it’s the World Cup. Nobody’s going to think about if you’re too hot or if it’s too humid. Even if you played 70 games, you have to perform.
You coached France to the final of the Olympic Games. What different qualities does it take to be a successful tournament manager?
You need to understand the balance of the team, your identity and your philosophy. It’s always great when you have the core of a group that’s been there for a very long time, and new guys who are going to come in. You need to know how you will keep everybody happy, and how you will keep on winning.
When you look at Didier Deschamps, he could go to his third World Cup final in a row. That’s so hard, to keep everyone happy and handle the pressure of the fans and the press.
You might have a guy who is the captain of his club, and suddenly he’s a sub in the national team – how do you deal with that? The guy who started the competition might not finish it, and vice versa. You need to keep everyone focused to stay in the tournament.
How do you design a session with some intensity for the guy who played 70 minutes and the guy who played 40? They have to be together, but they can’t push the same way. The sports science team need to do their job, and everyone has to arrive on point, physically and mentally at the same level to be able to perform. It’s not always easy, it’s really different, and there are so many components that you need to have to be able to win.
France’s first game of this tournament is against Senegal. What are your memories of that famous upset in 2002, and how far have Senegal come since then?
That was great for Senegal and they deserved it and it will go down as a historical win. But it was almost the end of an era for us.
Senegal has always been a country with special players, they just couldn’t get over the line by winning an AFCON. It’s been done since, and since that 2002 team they’ve never looked back.
It’s a dangerous game for France. You can go back to Argentina v Cameroon in 1990 to see that if you’re not ready from the start, it’s dangerous. You also have to understand that Senegal play us differently, because of the colonies and what has happened historically. Beating France is something massive for them.
Norway is also in our group, and those are the two teams I’ve told everybody to watch out for. It’s good for France to start that way, because you have to be ready right from the start. There won’t be any easy games and you play against two outstanding teams.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the winning goal in a European final for Crystal Palace and now he’s in the World Cup squad. How pleased are you for him?
I called him up for the Olympics when I could have called so many other players in that position, because I believed in him.
The way he plays is very old school, and it’s very rare to find a No. 9 like that now who can have an impact in the game. He’s a character, he makes everybody laugh, he works hard and he will always be at the service of the team. I had zero doubt, because he’s a warrior and he has always had to prove to everyone that he should be there.
I’m more than happy for him and he deserves it. No one gave him anything ever. I’m happy he’s done what he’s done, and it shows I wasn’t wrong.
Thomas Tuchel has coached in big matches and won a Champions League final against Pep Guardiola. Does he have the tactical acumen that could get England over the line?
Well, a lot of people have tried. Does he need to prove that he’s good tactically? Well he got the job for a reason.
Look at the number of managers who have coached England, guys who were proven to be tactically good. So it’s not only about the coach. There has to be some kind of togetherness with the players, the fans, the coaching staff and everybody involved.
What I know is that Thomas Tuchel knows how he likes to go about things. A lot of people were talking about his squad list, but that’s the thing – it’s his list, and whether we agree or not, he has selected players to play his style of football.
With Vitinha and their other midfield players, do you think Portugal could emulate PSG’s style of play in this World Cup?
All I can say is that their midfield is scary. Vitinha, Joao Neves, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva. Not only is the midfield scary, but also in that team you have Nuno Mendes from PSG, Joao Cancelo who had a great season with Barcelona, Ruben Dias – and they still have the monster upfront in Cristiano Ronaldo, whoever plays, that team is loaded,
But a lot of things also need to go your way. It depends on your path, how you’re going to recover from the heat and many other things.
I was part of that staff with Roberto Martinez and Richard Evans, so I know the boss is going to give them a tactical advantage that will be important. If you look at the final of the Nations League against Spain, that was a hell of a game that Portugal won, so it will be interesting to see what’s going to happen with them.
How do you rate Germany’s chances after going out in the last two group stages?
There is a question mark over a lot of teams, and you need to find that cohesion going back to what they could do before. Every country is wondering why they’re not winning it. Cohesion and carrying momentum are key, whatever country you are.
I’ve been in four World Cups – two were a disaster, one was outstanding when we won it, and one was great although we lost to Italy in the final. So every country has its own issues that they need to deal with.
I’m not inside the dressing room to know what’s happening, but all I know is that at one World Cup, Germany will go back to being Germany. When is it going to happen? I don’t know, but it is in their hands.
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