France captain Hugo Lloris admitted Sunday’s World Cup final defeat to Lionel Messi’s Argentina was “cruel” and likened the pulsating showpiece to a “boxing match”.Argentina triumphed 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the final in Doha ended 3-3 in extra time. Goalkeeper Lloris hailed his side after the defending champions had been 2-0 down with just 10 minutes left in normal time before Kylian Mbappe scored twice in quick succession.”It was like a boxing match. We went blow for blow. We didn’t give up. We needed a winner and it was decided on penalties. That’s always cruel. We are empty.”PLAYER RATINGS: Dembele bottled it, Mbappe arose from zero to almost hero, sensational Di Maria, Messi the G.O.A.T.Lloris was beaten by all four Argentine penalties in the shootout, including one from Messi who had already scored twice in the game.”We could have let it slip at 2-0 but we continued to believe that we could turn the game around. We must congratulate Argentina, who played a great tournament and a great final.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6892891##France coach Didier Deschamps said the way his team lost was “cruel” after they came from behind twice throughout the game only to succumb in a penalty shootout.”We were not as good in the first 60 minutes against top-quality opponents who had a lot more energy, but we came back from nowhere and turned the game around from a complicated situation. That leaves us with even more regrets. We had a chance to win the World Cup in the last minute, but it wasn’t to be. At 2-0, there would not have been the same regrets. You just say ‘bravo’ to them. I don’t want to take any merit away from Argentina, but there were lots and lots of emotions and it was cruel at the end because we were so close.”2022 World Cup final as it happenedDeschamps suggested that the virus which laid low several of his players in the run-up to the final was partly to blame for their poor performance over the first hour.”There were many reasons which explained why we were not as good. Several important players had less energy but bringing on younger players with less experience, but plenty of freshness and quality allowed us to keep dreaming. But unfortunately the dream did not come true.”
