Winning WC more important than tactics: Griezmann

ISTRA, Russia: France forward Antoine Griezmann said Friday winning the World Cup against Croatia on Sunday was more important than how his team do it. Belgium’s players criticised the tactics France used in their 1-0 semifinal win as Didier Deschamps’ team sat deep and Samuel Umtiti’s headed goal came from a corner, but Griezmann dismissed the criticism.

“I don’t care. I want the star (on my shirt for World Cup winners). If I get that star, I don’t care about how we play,” the 27-year-old Atletico Madrid forward told a press conference at France’s training base outside Moscow. Griezmann said he had changed the way he plays for France in order to benefit the team. He finished top scorer at Euro 2016 with six goals but France lost the final to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal on home soil.

He has scored three goals in Russia, two from penalties and one largely thanks to a goalkeeping howler from Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera, but he has also contributed two assists. “I was top scorer but we lost, so I said to myself: ‘I am going to score less to see if we can win’. “My game is changing, now I am more likely to dictate the rhythm or hold onto the ball. “If I score, then that’s great, but I am more a player who thinks of the team than of scoring.”

After a slow start in Russia, France have picked up form. Their blend of experienced campaigners like Griezmann and Paul Pogba, and young stars like Kylian Mbappe and Benjamin Pavard, ensures they are the bookmakers’ favourites.

Midfielder Blaise Matuidi said the defeat in the Euro 2016 final — when France seemed to freeze in front of their own fans at the Stade de France in Paris and Portugal nicked a 1-0 win — would be in many of the players’ minds when they walk out at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday. “The tears have dried from Euro 2016 but it’s still there in a little corner of people’s minds,” Matuidi said on Friday. “It will be useful for us on Sunday, even if I don’t like to keep bringing up the past. It will serve as a lesson to us and it means we know what it is to play in a final.