Rayan Cherki believes that France is better than Spain, but mistakes left them out
The French team was beaten by Spain in the semifinals. Rayan Cherki recognizes that they were superior to the Spanish team
The Spanish team beat France 0-2 at the Dallas Stadium. The French team was one step away from playing in their third consecutive World Cup final. Rayan Cherki, after the defeat, still thinks that France is superior.
The French team reached the semifinals as the big favorite in the series. However, Luis de la Fuente's team knew how to perfectly control France's feared attack. Rayan Cherki is aware that Spain was better in the match, but it was not worse in the previous match.
"Spain was better in all facets of the game. They wanted it more than us. I am convinced that we are a better team, but this afternoon they were superior. Maybe we did not know how to manage our emotions well," said the Manchester City footballer in the mixed zone.
France reached the semifinals with a devastating step in the World Cup. Kylian Mbappé's team had scored goals in every World Cup match and had accumulated 16 goals before the duel against Spain. “La Roja” clouded all ideas of the feared French attack.
"The disappointment is enormous. We knew that their main virtue was playing at a deceptive pace, pausing the game. In some moments, we should have done the same. It was more complicated than we thought. Tactically they were better than us and they were better placed. We are in the semifinals of a World Cup and these games are decided by small details," he added.
Losing against Spain is on paper, but the problem was the collective poor performance of all of France, mainly in their attack and midfield. A forward with players of the stature of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and also the inclusion of Bradley Barcola, could not generate actions of great danger.
"With the quality we have, we should have done better. They were good and we did not show the image we wanted to show," he concluded.