French coach: If we're boring you ... it doesn't matter'

Semifinal pits defensive and dull France against youthful and tournament-leading scorers Spain

- DANIELLA MATAR

A boring France team? Coach Didier Deschamps doesn’t care.

Tuesday’s European Championship semifinal between Spain and France is a matchup of very different styles. One team is playing some of the most exciting soccer at Euro 2024, and the other is playing arguably the dullest.

A team that has won all five of its matches, against a team that has won just two (excluding a penalty shootout victory over Portugal). A team that has scored a tournament high 11 goals, against a team whose players have yet to score from open play — getting two own goals and one on a penalty.

“If we’re boring you, you can watch something else, it doesn’t matter,” Deschamps said Monday when asked about criticism of his team’s form. “It’s a very particular European Championship, with less goals than normal. We have the chance to make France happy, in a delicate situation for the country. If (others) are bored, I don’t really care.”