French star Dembélé shone in the European Championship quarter-final against Portugal and was named Man of the Match after the game.
Talking about France’s victory in the penalty shootout, Dembélé said: “There wasn’t much communication between the players. We were confident about the penalties. Losing to Argentina in the World Cup final gave us confidence against Portugal.”
Regarding his performance in the penalty shootout, Dembélé said: “I decided to take it. Everyone was confident about taking penalties.”
In assessing the team’s overall performance, Dembélé highlighted the team’s spirit and resilience: “When you get to these stages, you want to get to the final. We’ve been doing well since 2014, 2016, except for the defeat in the Round of 16 in 2021. We are always united, all competitors.”
Although the team scored few goals in the game, Dembélé remained optimistic: “The atmosphere is good after reaching the semi-finals. We only scored three goals, but we created chances, we just didn’t score. As for the game, we played like that, we reached the semi-finals and we are happy.”
Dembélé also highly praised the role of the substitutes: “Everyone wants to play. Look at Muani against Belgium, he scored. The players who came on in the second half also wanted to change the game.”
Asked about his feelings coming on as a substitute against Portugal, Dembélé explained: “The starting line-up wasn’t a surprise. The coach said we would play 4-3-3. We adapted. The team is united. We give our all on the pitch. I think the tactics were the same.”
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