France coach Didier Deschamps said he had to act swiftly when his side were struggling in the World Cup final.
Deschamps took off both Ousmane Dembele and Olivier Giroud in the latter stages of the first half.
Argentina were already 2-0 up at that point, but substitutes Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani eventually helped the French rally for a 3-3 draw after extra time.
“If we had been 3-0 down, we couldn’t have complained,” said Deschamps after the match, which the South Americans won on penalties.
“We didn’t do the right things for an hour, but then with a lot of courage, energy and quality, we pushed Argentina to the limit.
“If I made those changes so early, it’s because I was not satisfied and I felt convinced we could do better.
“That doesn’t mean the players who went off were more guilty than the others.”
“The whole squad has been facing a tricky situation for a while now,” he added.
“Maybe that had a physical or psychological impact. But I had no concerns about the players who started the match: they were 100% fit.
“We only had four days since the last match so there was some tiredness, perhaps. That’s not an excuse, we just didn’t have the same energy as in the previous match and that’s why, for the first hour or so, we weren’t in the match.”
