Barcelona defender Jules Kounde took his share of the blame after France conceded an equaliser to Iceland in a 2-2 draw in World Cup qualifying on Monday night.
Kounde was back in the starting XI for Les Bleus and tried to play offside for the goal but was caught out. Here’s what he had to say after the match.
“I haven’t seen the goal again, but I have the feeling I can do a lot better,” he told L’Equipe.
“We get pierced a bit easily, and then I have a bad reflex to go up, to take that step forward
when I should have simply stepped back.
“Let’s say that’s a bit like how we defend at club level, and unfortunately, it’s a bad reflex that costs dearly because we concede a goal, even though the action goes forward, but the result is that I could have done better on that goal.”
Manager Didier Deschamps also wasn’t happy with his team for the goal, saying: “We were positioned very high up, poorly positioned.”
The result means that France missed the chance to qualify for the World Cup but still sit three points clear at the top of their group. Kounde will now return to Barcelona to prepare for Saturday’s match with Girona.
