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Former French national team captain Marcel Desailly is skeptical about France's chances at this year's World Cup in Germany.
"I am pessimistic about 'Les Bleus' (the nickname for the French national team)," the defender was quoted as saying by the newspaper "Le Parisien" on Thursday. "There are new talented players in the team, but they still lack confidence."
"The team has great potential, but they need to learn to deal with pressure. They all play for very strong clubs, but the World Cup is the toughest football tournament. In it, you can never be sure of anything," said the former player of London's "Chelsea." "For example, in 2002 we had three (Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, and Djibril Cisse) of the best strikers in Europe, but we didn't score a single goal during the tournament."
During his 11-year career in the national team, the 37-year-old M. Desailly was one of the team leaders when they won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000. In total, as a right-back in the French national team, he played a record number of matches – 116.
M. Desailly, who ended his playing career last year, will commentate on the matches during this year's World Cup, which begins on June 9.
