Euro 2016 may not have had the dream finale for the French national team, but Laurent Koscielny feels they came out of the tournament with newfound respect.
The hosts lost in the final in extra-time after Eder’s strike sealed Portugal’s first major title, but the Arsenal defender is keen to take the positives.
“I think during this tournament we earned a lot of respect from a lot of French people,” Koscielny told Arsenal Player.
“It’s very important, we talked after the final with some people and they told me ‘Ok, you lost the final, but listen, you win a lot of French supporters and all the country are with you. It’s a shame if you lost to Portugal but you can see what you changed during this tournament’. So we are happy with this.
“It was a good tournament. It finished badly for us but I think the atmosphere in our squad and with all the fans was unbelievable. The [support grew] since we started our first game in Biarritz but after the final you could see all the country had been behind us.”
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