France blame intense heat, dry pitch and 61,000 crowd for Hungary draw

France blame intense afternoon heat in Budapest, the dry pitch and the raucous 61,000 capacity crowd in the Puskas Arena for their dismal draw with Hungary as manager Didier Deschamps admits his players wanted water breaks every FIVE minutes 

  • France slipped up in their Euro 2020 Group F clash with Hungary on Saturday
  • Antoine Griezmann’s second-half goal cancelled out Attila Fiola’s opener
  • Dider Deschamps slammed the intense heat in the Puskas Arena in Budapest
  • Goalscorer Griezmann complained about the dry pitch and raucous crowd 

France blamed the sultry afternoon heat, the raucous crowd and the dry pitch as the world champions came unstuck against Hungary.

‘I’m not trying to make excuses but it’s a reality,’ said boss Didier Deschamps. ‘High temperatures in mid-afternoon, we’re talking 35-36 degrees. The players were asking for water-breaks every five minutes.

‘It was more difficult for us than the Hungarians. They were a little bit more dynamic than us.

France blamed the hot afternoon heat in Budapest for their 1-1 draw with Hungary on Saturday

Attila Fiola put Hungary in front at half-time but Antoine Griezmann cancelled the goal out

‘The day before, we trained at 2.15pm and they were out of breath, it was so hot. We were not as fresh as we could have been but that doesn’t mean there weren’t opportunities.

‘The first 15 minutes were slightly laborious for us, it took us time to get into our groove. We had opportunities but could not find the net and then came the sucker punch.’

Antoine Griezmann, who scored France’s equaliser in a 1-1 draw, admitted his team were rocked by the passion of a 61,000 capacity crowd inside the Puskas Arena after so long playing behind closed doors.

France boss Didier Deschamps (right) said his players asked for breaks every five minutes

‘We are out of the habit of a full stadium,’ said Griezmann. ‘The match was very difficult with the public. We didn’t get along. The pitch was dry. It was hot and heavy but we knew that before the start.

‘We were caught on the blocks and we paid. It is the Euros, with great nations and great players and, even against Hungary, it is hard.’

Attila Fiola gave Hungary the lead on the stroke of half-time and said: ‘This is one of the most beautiful days of my life.’

Goalscorer Griezmann claimed France were not used to playing in front of a 61,000 crowd

Deschamps paid tribute to the battling Hungarians. ‘They were wonderful, they gave it their all,’ said the France boss. 

‘But we never threw in the towel and were able to level it up. I’m satisfied, not overjoyed but satisfied.

‘Our objective is to qualify for the next round and we still have a little bit of leeway with our four points, even though we wanted six.’




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