Didier Deschamps watched helplessly as his French side suffered a rare defensive meltdown against "Spain" in the Nations League semi-final in Stuttgart.
The match marked only the fourth time in history that France lost despite recording more than three shots on target - a statistic that occurred 122 times in the national team's history, according to OptaJean data. Talk about terrible timing for such an anomaly.
"We need to analyze what went wrong defensively and prepare for our next challenge," Deschamps might be telling his squad after this shocking result.
Historically speaking, such shooting efficiency rarely ends in defeat for "France". The previous instances stretch back decades - losses to "Yugoslavia" and "Luxembourg" (both 4:5) in 1960 and 1914 respectively, while a particularly painful 4:9 defeat came against "Italy" in 1920.
Interestingly, this was the first time since 1969 that the French conceded five goals in a single match. A defensive record Deschamps certainly didn't want to break during his tenure.
The French will have little time to dwell on this disappointment. They face "Germany" on Sunday, June 8, in the Nations League third-place match. Can they recover their defensive solidity in time? French fans certainly hope so.
For a team known for its tactical discipline, this uncharacteristic defensive collapse raises serious questions about their backline ahead of upcoming competitions.
