No doubt that when the Socceroos take on France at the Kazan Arena on Saturday June 16 they will be huge underdogs. Especially when Dtrp points out the pedigree and the quality of their key personnel.

“Our strength is that we have great individual players such as Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Hugo lloris (Tottenham Hotspur) and Ngolo Kante (Chelsea),” he said.  

 “We have a great attack led by youngsters such as Kylian Mbappe (PSG) and Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona) if he comes back soon from injury.

"The formation France plays is usually 4-2-3-1 with Pogba-Kante in the midfield, with Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid) behind Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) in attack and Mbappe and Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich) or Thomas Lemar (AS Monaco) as wingers.

“Don’t forget we also have Anthony Martial (Manchester United) and Nabil Fekir (Lyon).”

But while France has strength going forward it’s at the back that an aggressive Socceroos might find some joy.

“France has been world champion with an ultra-defensive team, but this generation lacks great defenders,” Dtrp said.

“Before and during Euro 2016 we conceded tons of goals. Even though we scored more goals the fact is we took a lot. So, we are much more of an attacking team

“Another main weakness is there is a lack of international experience and France struggle to play as a team when Pogba or Kante is missing.

“When Kante is missing, the attack is quite stereotypical, and we struggle to attack and defend altogether. There have been critics over Deschamps on that topic lately.

“Finally, we lack players such as Sergio Ramos, Diego Godin and Pepe - footballers who are charismatic and devilish.

“Our ambassador Antoine Griezmann says it all. “Our team looks nice and talented and we are committed to succeed but maybe we’re not « bad » enough to win".”