Deschamps wants to coach "as long as possible" after leaving France

Didier Deschamps has no intention of stopping after fourteen years on the France bench. In an interview with Le Figaro alongside Olivier Giroud, the France manager — who will leave his post after the World Cup — was categorical about his future: he wants to keep coaching.

“I want to stop as late as possible,” said the 57-year-old Deschamps in response to a direct question from France’s all-time leading goalscorer. “This job is my adrenaline. As long as I feel capable of doing it, I continue. If I don’t do this, I’m not going to live a life where I fall asleep at night and there’s nothing planned for the next day. That’s not me, it will never be me.”

The former midfielder, however, nuanced his remarks, acknowledging that he knows how to “say stop at different moments” and promising to do so “when the need arises”.

The interview also featured a lighter exchange about padel, a shared passion of the two men. Deschamps issued a friendly challenge to Giroud, advising him to “train regularly” before their next match. “Now, if he wants to win, he’d better play with me,” he added, noting that he had a padel court built at his property on the Côte d’Azur.

The manager concluded on the unbreakable bond that ties him to former internationals: “Our 2018 triumph will bind us forever.”