Didier Deschamps: Armenia deserved to win Serbia match

By Vera Martirosyan

France head coach Didier Deschamps said Real forward Karim Benzema will not train with the group as his team arrived in Yerevan for a Tuesday friendly match against Armenia.

“I watched Armenia's match against Serbia, and can say that Armenia deserved to win and get three points unless they missed a penalty kick. I will use six substitutions in tomorrow's match,” Didier  Deschamps said during a press conference in Yerevan.

The French coach said he visited Armenia back in 1999, but he could hardly notice any changes since the team arrived in Yerevan late on Sunday.

“At first glance, Portugal is a favorite of this group. But Portugal, with Ronaldo, lost to Albanians. Serbia and Denmark are also good teams. So, there will be tough and unpredictable fight in this group,” Deschamps added.

France is holding friendlies building up to their hosting of Euro 2016, and its good that France are playing against international teams of this group, and are not looking for sparring partners, the manager said.

“Compared to previous years, the game of the Armenian team has changed significantly. Now the team is playing with five defenders. In the absence of Mkhitaryan and Movsisyan, Pizzelli, Sarkisov and Manucharyan played well. A good game of Armenian players is thanks to their move to European clubs,” he resumed.

 Armenia vs. France friendly will start at 8p.m. Yerevan time.