Deschamps admits feisty tie may have been costly

FRANCE boss Didier Deschamps was relieved to avoid losing any of his players to suspension after a flashpoint sparked by teenager Kylian Mbappe. The French star, who failed to soar to the heights of his Argentine demolition job, angered the Uruguayans with a Neymar-like reaction to an incident involving Cristian Rodriguez, writhing around as if in severe pain. Players from both sides got involved in the melee as the situation threatened to boil over. Deschamps, who took midfielder Paul Pogba aside for a quiet word as both Mbappe and Rodriguez were shown yellow cards, said: ‘Things got a bit hot, and bearing in mind that he (Pogba) did have a yellow card, I didn’t want him to lose his temper and to get a booking for nothing much. ‘You can talk to the referee but you can’t be provocative and you can’t fall for the provocation of your rivals. I didn’t want him to get another booking. ‘I had six players on a booking, and now I have everybody available for the next match.’ Deschamps, whose team march on to the semi-finals, admitted they’d practiced ways to unlock the Uruguayan defence, which until that point had conceded only one goal at the World Cup. ‘Griezmann was very good on that set-piece, and Rafael Varane reacted very well,’ he said. ‘This week I focused a bit more on their defence with respect to their positional play.’ Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez’s future is unclear, with the 71year-old saying: ‘I have a contract but it’s not for me to decide.’