By Paul Giblin
MOSCOW, July 5 (Xinhua) -- France coach Didier Deschamps expects a tough game when his side faces Uruguay for a place in the semifinals of the World Cup on Friday.
Uruguay have conceded just one goal in their four games to date and knocked Portugal out of the tournament in the last round, thanks to two goals from Edison Cavani, while the French beat Argentina in a victory that was clearer than the final score might suggest.
However, although Uruguay and Argentina are neighbors, Deschamps said in his pre-game press conference on Thursday that they are miles apart in footballing terms.
"This Uruguay side has a very different profile to Argentina. We will have to be patient. They are extremely organized in defense, they don't concede many goals. But they also know how to attack and they're very good with their counterattacks," said Deschamps.
The France coach said that the speed with which Uruguay were able to get the ball forward was "really admirable, and they have two extremely talented strikers. We need to be patient, but we'll need to have more than patient if we're going to beat them."
Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani are Uruguay's strikers, and although Cavani was photographed in training on Thursday, he is a doubt after limping out of last Saturday's match with a calf injury.
"Cavani has been a great figure at PSG. He's a winner, he's a leader, he's respected in France as a player and also as a man," said French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to the press.
Lloris said that "Cavani and Suarez are among the most beautiful attacking pairings in the world. They're a very difficult team to handle and very strong on the counter," but he added that if Cavani didn't play whoever replaced him, Maxi Gomez or Cristhian Stuani, "can play at a very high level. We're getting ready for everything, whether he (Cavani) plays or doesn't play."
"It's going to be a big game. Uruguay are a very strong team, it's going to be a real struggle and we're going to have to be focused in all aspects of the game," said the French goalkeeper.
