France midfielder Adrien Rabiot says his side are hungry to win Euro 2024 after coming so close at the World Cup two years ago.
Les Bleus lost to Argentina in the final on penalties in Qatar, failing to make it back-t0-back triumphs following their 2018 victory.
It has not been plain sailing for Rabiot and Co though.
They finished second to Austria in their group and it took penalties to beat Portugal in the recent quarter-final.
Didier Deschamps’ side are yet to score from open play and star man Kylian Mbappe is playing with a face mask following a broken nose earlier in the tournament.
But Rabiot glossed over that and says at the end of the day, they are in the semi-finals and two games away from lifting the trophy.
In his press conference, he said: “We’ve got to the semi-finals of an important competition after playing very good opponents. We’re focused on winning as a team.
“The fact that we’re in the semi-finals speaks for itself. We’ve done what we needed to get here.
🥁 Introducing your final four…
🇪🇸 Spain
🇫🇷 France
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🏴 EnglandWho wins it? 🤔#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/vkQOd2Yb0x
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 6, 2024
“We want to lift the [EURO] trophy after coming so close [at the FIFA World Cup] in 2022.”
Rabiot was suspended against Portugal for accumulating too many yellow cards.
But he will return against Spain and likely slot back into the starting XI.
Spain have arguably been the best team at Euro 2024 so far, something the free agent is aware of.
He was very complimentary to Luis de la Fuente’s side and credited some of their youngsters for their brilliant moments on the pitch.
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Rabiot added: “I really wanted us to win [against Portugal] so that I could return for the semi-final. I’m glad to be back on the pitch.
“They’ve [Spain] played the best football at the tournament. They have great wingers and can penetrate the final third.
Bringing the speed ⚡️#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/60h3HJR4cp
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 8, 2024
“They also know how to score goals. They’re a very complete team who have their strengths, but they probably have their weaknesses too. We’re confident and know what we have to do.
“He’s a player who deals with pressure very well. He’s capable of playing for his club [Barcelona] and in tournaments such as this.
“We know what he can do. He’s capable of keeping a cool head. It’ll be up to us to put pressure on him and put him out of his comfort zone.”
Spain and France will face-off on Tuesday night at 8pm in Munich.
The winner will face either England or the Netherlands in the final.
