Captain Lloris leading by example

"I won't name him captain because I don't want him to equal my record, so I'll pick someone else," a laughing Didier Deschamps told EURO2016.com. "Him" is Hugo Lloris, who against Switzerland on Sunday should equal Deschamps' France record of 54 matches as captain. Deschamps continued: "Of course I'm only joking. Hugo does a really good job as captain and I'm delighted for him."

First given the armband for a friendly in England in November 2010, goalkeeper Lloris was handed the role on a permanent basis by Laurent Blanc ahead of UEFA EURO 2012. Deschamps retained him when he took over post-tournament, and now it is hard to imagine anybody else leading France out of the tunnel.

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Yet when initially appointed, Lloris had to overcome widespread scepticism about whether his reserved nature and playing position far from the thick of the action would act as impediments to his influence.

Unfailingly polite, Lloris is not a fist-clenching, bellowing sort of skipper. Instead he exudes calm authority, leading by example. Only 25 when he captained France at the last UEFA European Championship, the former Lyon custodian has grown into the office.

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"I became captain very young. I needed to learn and learn fast," he admitted to us. "During the last two years I've also been captain at Tottenham, which has helped a lot. I feel good in my role and the most important thing is to feel respected by your team-mates. Performing for the team helps a lot. As captain, you also have some responsibilities off the pitch."

In his press duties, Lloris is a coach's dream. No risk of banner headlines or dressing-room secrets being divulged when he's talking to the media. Scribes and pundits have questioned France's leadership cadre, given that regular captaincy stand-in Raphaël Varane, as well as the influential Lassana Diarra and Mamadou Sakho, were unavailable for this tournament.

Asked who his on-field lieutenants are, Lloris unhesitatingly picked out two names: "We still have [former captain] Patrice Evra, who everybody knows. There's also Blaise Matuidi and some other players. We need to feed off each other."

Still just 29, Lloris is in line to smash all sorts of records for Les Bleus. This weekend's Group A game in Lille will lift him to 78 caps, nine shy of Fabien Barthez's national-high for a goalkeeper. Defender Lilian Thuram's all-time record of 142 international appearances could be eclipsed too should Lloris retain form and fitness over the next five or six seasons.

Modest to a tee, this is a classic Lloris answer: "I'm always proud to represent my country, but in the end all these stats are just numbers. At the moment I'm not paying much attention to this – maybe at the end of my career. At the moment I'm fully focused on the tournament with the team rather than my personal record."