Deschamps delighted to silence Ronaldo in France-Portugal stalemate

Didier Descahmps lauded France for keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet but conceded his side were short of their best in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Portugal.

The two remain locked together at the top of Nations League Group A3 after playing out a goalless draw at the Stade de France, which housed 1,000 socially distanced fans.

It was the first meeting between the sides since Portugal’s triumph in the Euro 2016 final, but the contest failed to deliver much in the way of drama.

Ronaldo saw a late strike repelled by Hugo Lloris in what was a largely underwhelming clash between the champions of the world and the champions of Europe.

That’s full-time. 0-0 beween France and Portugal. Focus now on Wednesday for the game against Croatia. #FRAPOR #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/eVM5WSyrdb

— French Team  (@FrenchTeam) October 11, 2020

“We can always do better,” admitted Les Bleus boss Deschamps.

“With the quality of the opponent we took precautions, we did not see Ronaldo this evening.

“It was more difficult for the attacking units in this game. Sometimes it is the movements that are not good, sometimes the passes do not arrive.

“We have to do better in the last move to win the match.”

Deschamps was keen to highlight the excellent defensive work of both teams in shutting out two line-ups full of attacking quality.

“We knew that Portugal was a great team, we must rather talk about the defensive quality of the two teams,” he said.

“The midfielders were very efficient in terms of technical accuracy… they allowed us to have more control, especially in the second half.”

Next up for France is Wednesday’s match away to Croatia.