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Ahead of his side’s FIFA World Cup round of 16 clash against Paraguay, French defender Jules Kounde said that their opponents are a “physical team that can be dangerous on counter-attack”.France, led by Kylian Mbappe and eyeing a third star on their jersey, looks unstoppable at the moment, and the round 16 clash against Paraguay, who shocked the world by eliminating four-time champions Germany in the round of 32, would be an exciting one to watch. The match will take place on July 5, 2:30 AM IST.Speaking as quoted by L’Équipe, a French publication before the match, Jules said about his opponents, “You like to emphasise that Paraguay is a tenacious team, but they also have quality and the players to exploit counter-attacks. They have a physical team that can be dangerous on the counter-attack. We expect a difficult match, and we know that we will have to be strong in the duels, to impose our physicality to be effective with the ball.”Jules’ observation about Paraguay’s highly attacking gameplay is not wrong, as they have received more warnings than they have touched the ball. As per L’Équipe, they have already got nine yellow cards in four games so far, a sign of an aggressive team.Also, Paris Saint-Germain star Bradley Barcola, who has scored a couple of goals and delivered an assist so far, highlighted their opponents’ defensive quality, saying that “they defend a lot and are going to put in a lot of hard tackles”.
