France defenders discuss defending against Lamine Yamal: “I thik we’ll do the job.”

France defenders discuss defending against Lamine Yamal: “I thik we’ll do the job.” A few hours before the French team was due to leave for Dallas, backup defenders Maxence Lacroix and Ibrahima Konaté spoke to the media at the team’s World Cup base camp in the outskirts of Boston. The two centre-backs were notably asked about Les Bleus’ plans in order to contain Lamine Yamal during their semi-final clash on Tuesday. Speaking after Spain’s win over Belgium, the Barcelona forward notably said that Les Bleus should be the ones to fear their opponents in the final four. “I wouldn’t say that we’re scared,” Lacroix responded. “We’re aware of our qualities. We know that Spain also has a great squad, and they’ve had a very good tournament. I think all of our opponents have had very good players. We’re focusing on our objective, which is winning.” “How do you defend against him? Well! He’s a very good player, he’s shown a few times in this World Cup that he can hurt you, but we have quality in defence. We haven’t conceded many goals and chances. I think we’ll do the job.” Ibrahima Konaté, who started in the nine-goal thriller that saw France lose to Spain last year, pointed out that the main concern was keeping the Spanish team as a whole at bay. “Honestly, that’s not what we’re thinking about,” he said. “Spain are an exceptional team with a lot of quality, but the aim isn’t to focus on one player in particular. It’s not just Lamine, it’s the whole team.” Les Bleus will fly out to Texas on Sunday afternoon, having held two training sessions over the weekend after being granted a day off. Starting centre-backs William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano were both absent from Saturday’s session , with the French coaching staff looking to manage their respective loads amid minor injury concerns. GFFN  | Raphaël Jucobin  – reporting from France’s base camp in Waltham, Massachusetts