He has just given his last answer, gets up from his chair but still takes the time to warn the audience, just in case: “It won’t be me tomorrow”. Lucas Hernandez has not changed four and a half years after his appearance in Blue. The 2018 world champion is still this smiling character “ready to give the maximum on and off the pitch” and to remember that a football match is also and above all a “fight”.
This Friday, the defender of Bayern Munich (32 selections) was questioned during a large part of his press conference on the role of left side. Didier Deschamps said he intended to use it on one side, and not as a central hinge as he does most of the time in Munich and lately in selection. “Lately, I’ve been playing a lot more in the center but now, the last three games with Bayern, it was on the left. It’s a position that I know perfectly well, and in which I feel very good and very comfortable. You can rest assured. If the coach decides that, I will give the maximum to defend this jersey (…) On the left, you have to know how to manage these efforts, which are more intense. In the axis, these are shorter efforts. But I know them both perfectly. »
Unsurprisingly, there was also talk of the funny competition that promises with his brother Theo (7 caps, 1 goal). The latter, a year younger, distinguished himself more for his offensive qualities, especially during the “final four” of the League of Nations a year ago. “It’s a source of pride for me to be in a World Cup with my brother, it’s incredible. We will both enjoy this moment. If it’s up to me, I’ll be very happy, very proud, but I’ll be just as happy or even more happy to see my brother on the pitch. These are just beautiful emotions, ”he assured, without flinching.
“We can make a difference at any time in front but we will also need soldiers”
In 2018, the former Atlético Madrid resident blew away France with his energy and boldness in duels. His corridor had become an impregnable fortress. For his second World Cup, at 26, he feels carried by the same dynamic. In any case, Lucas Hernandez no longer feels any pain in the left adductor. A nasty injury, contracted on September 13 against FC Barcelona in the Champions League, had kept him away from the field for almost six weeks.
Always mischievous, he finished by projecting himself on the four training sessions that separate them from the match against Australia. “Yesterday, the session was open to the press so we couldn’t really prepare. But it will start today, ”he assured. “Everyone is hungry, wants to start this World Cup. As I said before, it will be football matches but also fights. We can make a difference at any time in front but we will also need soldiers. »