After helping France begin their World Cup campaign with a 4-1 win over Australia on Wednesday, Ousmane Dembele says he wants to be a key player in 2022. Dembele played an important part as France came back from 0-1 to win the game. He was involved throughout the game including an assist for Kylian Mbappe’s goal.
Dembele told reporters after the game at a press conference that he has matured and is ready to make a significant contribution to the France team.
What did Ousmane Dembele say?
“I had some difficult years. When you compare the match from 2018 and Tuesday’s match, there are lots of changes,” he said.
“I am coming into the tournament off the back of a year-and-a-half without an injury. I have aged, and become more mature both in my game and off the pitch. And I am ambitious. I want to start matches. I want to be a key player at this World Cup. And I want to score and to create goals.”
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He further added: “The coach spoke to me a bit more about my defensive positioning. I felt good. For a while now I have been more confident. I try to bring things to the team,” he said.
“There were some balls that I could have done more with. We were surprised that they pressed us so high. We thought they would have a lower block. On the wings, we were often 1-v-1.”
Dembele is likely to start again for France the next time they play. Deschamps’ team will then face Denmark before concluding the group stage with a tie against Tunisia.
