Paris, July 11 (IANS) Disappointed after losing to Portugal in the European Championship final clash, France's football team head coach Didier Deschamps said his boys weren't cool-headed and missed lot of opportunities which where there to score.
Portugal, even without their leader Cristiano Ronaldo, upset hosts France 1-0 in extra-time as substitute striker Eder scored the only goal of a breathtaking final at the Stade de France to clinch their first major football title.
"We threw away a great chance to be European champions. Of course, the overriding emotion is huge disappointment. It's cruel to lose the final like that. I have to congratulate Portugal," Deschamps told uefa.com.
"Clearly, we had our opportunities and we weren't clinical enough. We weren't cool-headed enough, but I can't hold anything against my players. They gave everything tonight. I don't think we played with the brakes on by any means," he said.
The 48-year-old, who had captained France to their 1998 World Cup victory on home soil and the Euro 2000 crown two years later, said: "I'm sad for my players. There are no words to comfort them. It's tough, real tough. It's hard also for the fans who wanted that trophy so much."
The head coach stressed that despite losing in the final, the team will take lot of positives out of the campaign.
"We'd have loved to win this trophy for the fans. There are positives, but it's hard to see them at the moment. Everything we've experienced over the past few weeks and months has been positive so I'm just disappointed we couldn't win this trophy for the millions of fans," he said.
"I'm not going to think about myself tonight. I'll need some time to digest this, just like the players."
--IANS
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