Les Bleus boast balanced blend

Deschamps’ steely yet stylish bunch bidding to channel the spirit of 1998 triumph

Two decades after lifting the World Cup on home soil, France appears in good shape to taste global glory again.

Boasting attacking flair in Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, and robust defensive enforcers in N’Golo Kante, Samuel Umtiti and Blaise Matuidi, Les Bleus rightly head to Russia as one of the favorites.

The 1998 World Cup created indelible memories for France, when it came back from two consecutive absences from the tournament to stand on top of the world after beating Brazil 3-0 in the final.

Spearheaded by the creative genius of Zinedine Zidane and buttressed by the hard work of Didier Deschamps, the team’s current coach, France entered a golden era that also reaped the 2000 European Championship trophy and a runnerup spot at the 2006 World Cup.

Deschamps has tried to instill the same discipline and spirit from that ’98 vintage among his current charges.

The former Marseille, Juventus and Chelsea star has been keen to avoid a repeat of the 2010 World Cup, when players refused to train and France suffered an embarrassing early exit.

Midfielder Adrien Rabiot’s request to be removed from the standby list for Russia after failing to make the squad perhaps showed a small chink in France’s armor.

Deschamps denounced Rabiot’s behavior as a “huge mistake” and also read a rousing letter from injured Arsenal centerback Laurent Koscielny at a team meeting, calling for unity and national pride at the finals in Russia.

“There’s everything in there from a man who knows what an international tournament calls for,” said Deschamps of Koscielny, who was ruled out of the finals after sustaining an injury in the Gunners’ Europa League semifinal defeat to Atletico Madrid.

The whistles and boos from home fans directed at Paul Pogba for his perceived lackadaisical approach during