We had more mastery than Uruguay but France can be better, says Deschamps

Didier Deschamps praised his players for showing their mettle as they swept aside Uruguay to reach the World Cup semi-finals, but the France manager still believes there is room for improvement in his team.

Raphaël Varane and Antoine Griezmann scored the goals as France outplayed Uruguay, who badly missed the injured Edinson Cavani, to take their place in the last four.

“I think we deserved the result,” Deschamps said. “We played a beautiful Uruguay, but I thought we were better. We had more mastery, especially in the second half. I have a young team and the requirements are higher as you go. Against Argentina [in the previous round] we grew, it wasn’t easy, that could have been a one-off, but today to perform at a high level again, I think we’ve shown our mettle and that’s good news for us. We have some margin to get better. But youth is not only a weak point – there were certain sparks we managed to control.”

READ MORE: France beat Uruguay to reach World Cup semi-final against Brazil or Belgium

AS IT HAPPENED: Uruguay v France

READ MORE: Griezmann breathes life and lustre into dull France’s World Cup hopes

Deschamps was referring to a second-half flashpoint involving Kylian Mbappé, who ended up being cautioned after a melee. Mbappé had angered the Uruguay players, who accused him of play-acting, although that episode was one of the few occasions when France lost their composure.Deschamps was particularly pleased for Varane, who had been at fault when Mats Hummels scored Germany’s winner in the quarter-finals at the last World Cup, and believes that his young team are gaining confidence all the time, but he also highlighted areas where France can do more.

“You can always do better,” Deschamps said. “Maybe where we were lacking was at the beginning, when not everyone was involved in defending. We controlled the game better today. But there are some things that could turn into a promising attack with a clear goalscoring opportunity, and they sometimes don’t because that final pass isn’t good.”