Deschamps goes on the defensive after France are booed over sorry spectacle

By the end of the evening, Didier Deschamps was forced to list the great football nations who have found Russia 2018 difficult, if only to draw attention away from his France team, rolling into the second round as group winners but without a defining performance.

This was a game so bad that at the final whistle the neutrals in the crowd booed heartily France’s underwhelming attempts to break down Denmark in the first goalless game of this World Cup.

Deschamps had made six changes from the team who beat Peru, resting the likes of Paul Pogba, Samuel Umtiti, Hugo Lloris and Kylian Mbappe and still this was a team missing some of the je ne sais quoi one would expect of the replacement players.

“The reality is that it is challenging for everyone,” Deschamps said. “Look at Argentina, and Germany got a win by the skin of their teeth. It’s not easy. You can tell me there’s room for improvement but even top teams – Brazil, Germany, Spain – it is not easy for all of them.”

As the news of Peru’s lead over Australia came through the onus on either side to push the game reduced considerably. The Danes were happy with 32 per cent possession and one attempt on goal to get a point that takes them into the second round for the first time since 2002.

Their coach, Age Hareide, rejected any notion that this was a poor spectacle.

“We just needed one point right?” Hareide said. “We were up against one of the best counterattacking teams in the world so we would have been stupid to open up a lot of space.

“We stayed back as long as we could to get the point we needed. It was a 0-0 and we were very pleased with that.”

Denmark France Referee Subs Booked