Jose Mourinho believes Didier Deschamps made a huge mistake in France’s shootout defeat to Switzerland on Monday.
France appeared to be on course to secure a place in the quarter-final as Karim Benzema’s brace and Paul Pogba’s long-range strike overturned Haris Seferovic’s opener in the first half of the game.
But Switzerland scored two late goals to make it 3-3 after full-time and force extra time. Kylian Mbappe then missed a spot kick in the penalty shootout to send France out of the tournament.
But, Mourinho believes Deschamps’ decision to replace Griezmann with Sissoko in the closing stages of the second half proved very costly for France.
‘I believe France had a little bit of fun, which in football I think you must have football after the game, not during the game. They had fun too early,’ Mourinho told talkSPORT.
‘They were playing fantastic, the way they changed the result, amazing, Benzema’s first goal was incredible, Pogba’s third goal was top. But then I think they had a little bit of fun.
‘I also believe Deschamps made one mistake that I think about many, many times. ‘When you’re in a game where there’s a possibility of extra time you have to be very careful with the changes you make.
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‘When you make a change on minute 89 and you take off one of your best players, Griezmann, who was playing amazingly well and you change Griezmann for Sissoko.
‘If this is a points game without extra time that’s okay. But when there’s the possibility of extra time that’s a big game because then you make that change, they equalise in minute 91 or 92, you go to extra time and then you want to shoot yourself because you left Griezmann out of extra time.
‘Then in extra time you have the unlucky situation you cannot control of Benzema getting injured or feeling something and you lose your two top attacking players.
‘And then during extra time you never felt France could win it because they didn’t have the power to do it.
‘I think in this moment that Deschamps knows he made that mistake, which is something that can happen to every one of us, but experience helps us.
‘When you have extra time as a possibility still open you don’t take off one of your best players.’
