Didier Deschamps commended his players after they responded to his call for desire and aggression in a 1-0 friendly win over Portugal in Lisbon.

Substitute Mathieu Valbuena's late free kick clinched the win for France, which dominated the game and played some attractive attacking football, despite clear cut chances being few and far between.

Deschamps was pleased to end a run of defeats in their previous two outings, and said: "We showed a lot of aggression, we had some good moves, and we did not concede a goal.

"Beyond the result against a good Portugal team, we had the ingredients we needed. We had the better chances and could have scored before we did.

"We had a stranglehold on the second half. I saw beautiful things."

Goal-scorer Valbuena showed no sign of resentment at having to play from the bench, and looked forward to the friendly against Serbia in Bordeaux on Monday.

"It is a group, a family. Those who are on the bench must be decisive when they get a chance," he said: "We did a good job; the mood has returned.

"We showed that we were together. We had chances, that's encouraging. It will continue against Serbia."

Deschamps also lamented what looks to be a serious injury to Lyon man Nabil Fekir, the striker limping off after just 12 minutes.

"Unfortunately, he has a worrying knee ligament injury," he said.