Refreshed Lloris is full of respect for Ireland
HUGO LLORIS is adamant the seven-day break between games will work in France’s favour in today’s last 16 shootout in Lyon.
The French captain says the breather allowed Les Bleus to become ‘cut off from the tournament and recover well.’ In contrast, Irish legs may still be heavy after the late night exertions in Lille on Wednesday evening.
‘Once we learned who are opponents were, we turned our attention to the Republic of Ireland. We know this is a new competition,’ said Lloris yesterday.
‘The Republic of Ireland have this added motivation to try and knock out the host nation but we’re pretty relaxed about that.’
One of the survivors from the World Cup play-off in 2009, Lloris adhered to the party line when asked if Ireland were on a revenge mission for the Thierry Henry handball.
‘I don’t know if the Irish are out for revenge, it’s part of history and in the past. I don’t think we’re overconfident at all,’ said the Spurs keeper, who used to play for Lyon before his move to England.
‘We have a lot of respect for the Republic of Ireland. We’ve been able to watch them on video and, apart from the second half against Belgium, they’ve showed a lot of good stuff against Sweden and against Italy.
‘They’ll be a bit more excited that they went through in the last few minutes. They are where they are, they are very motivated but we’ll also be up for it too.’
Lloris expects Ireland to lean on set pieces to try and rattle the French cage today but also backed his defenders to be resolute.
‘If you want to have a good tournament you have to fall back on defensive solidity. That will be important against an Irish side that will try to counteract us, and use set plays in the air,’ he continued.
Lloris is aware there have been few one-sided games in the finals and is prepared for penalties if a quarterfinal places hinges on it.
‘We have to try and win the game in 90 minutes but if we have to go to penalties, so be it,’ said Lloris.