Six times.
Six times Hugo Lloris said the word ‘battle’ in a pretty brief, non-eventful pre-match press conference in Lyon.
The French captain reiterated the point again and again, that his country need to be ready for battle.
It’s not difficult to guess what France are expecting from Ireland on Sunday. Words like spirit, like aggression, like fight and heart continued to prop up. Words like battle.
Words like British.
“I used this word [battle] because we are familiar with the British sides,” Lloris said. “They do put a lot of heart into their performances, that will be the case tomorrow.
“We need to be committed from the outset to ensure they don’t grow in confidence. Then it will be up to us to use the ball, set our attacks up nicely and try and make the difference with our strengths.”
Lloris probably wasn’t mistaking the Republic of Ireland for a British country – all of their players are plying their trade across the water after all – but it’s the association with that generalisation of British footballers that’s obviously being used in preparation for Ireland.
Ireland have strengths in their heart and battling qualities. But Lloris wants France to “make the difference with our strengths.” You’d only get upset if you read too much into those words.
“You must prepare for everything because anything can happen in football,” the goalkeeper said. “When you look at the matches since the start of the tournament, they’ve all been tight, not too many big winning margins, so everything is possible.”
Even Ireland winning.
“If we have to go to penalties we’ll do so, but we’re not necessarily thinking about that. We will be focusing in the best possible fashion. We need to be ready for a battle because tomorrow looks like being a big battle.
“We need to be up for it, show determination, aggression. This is a top-level fixture.”
It was plainly clear to observe that those were the warnings being spilled by manager Didier Deschamps all this week in the build up to Sunday’s second round clash.
The French boss came out and echoed his captain’s sentiments. He also spoke about heart and all the rest but he was a little cleverer in not undermining the other qualities Ireland might have. Other qualities of which Glenn Whelan epitomises in his book.
“They have some good footballers like Whelan, Hendrick, Hoolahan if he plays,” the World Cup-winning captain said. “Brady. McCarthy. Shane Long. These are all players that play consistently at Premier League level.
“They’ve got a lot of heart, they work hard but it’s not just that. There are some good footballers within the team, the large majority in the Premier League. They’re used to playing against the top English sides and from their first three matches, although there have been quite a few changes, what I’ve seen they can play the ball on the deck even if they tend to play a more direct game.”
Let’s get one thing straight though, Deschamps wasn’t having a dig at Ireland. He was admiring them if anything. And, actually, the way Lloris seemed drilled with his responses, the manager might actually be fearing the Irish a little.
They’re going into battle and he wants the French to be ready for it.
“Mental strength doesn’t allow you to score goals but it’s important,” Deschamps said. “Ireland are an example of that. They have great solidarity and hard work within their side. We often talk about this famous fighting spirit, they don’t think twice, they go all the way.
“This is one attribute, it’s important to have that, it’s almost a genetic quality that they have. They are ready to go into battle as a unit and they will fight all the way for each other. That’s why I know we will have a tricky match.”
It’s games like these where tournaments are won. Ireland are ready for battle, everyone knows that.
But will the French be?
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