The coach of the French national team is losing confidence in the substitutes and reaches the final with just enough
France is tormented by a virus from the tension of the hours before the World Cup final. The flu has entered the French dressing room and this Friday kept three players aside: Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konaté and Kingsley Coman. Previously, it had also affected Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano, who, when the symptoms cleared, returned to the penultimate training session. Aurelien Tchouaméni and Theo Hernández were also missing, albeit in their case due to minor inconveniences that kept them in the gym.
The big concern is that more players could fall due to the virus in the coming hours, with no time to recover before the decisive game. Precautions are at their maximum, both at the Al Messila hotel and at the Al Sadd stadium facilities, the two places where the current champion spends his days in Doha. The power of the air conditioning has been reduced and the affected players are isolated and physical contact between the internationals outside the training ground is prohibited.
Now everyone shakes a fist and has to wash their hands regularly. They take it with humor. “We are not afraid of the virus, although measures have been taken,” said Ousmane Dembélé on Friday, one of the two players who spoke to the press before training. “Rabiot and Upamecano had it and they got better after drinking tea with ginger and honey,” he said to the laughter of those present.
The virus is the last stone in France’s complicated trajectory before and during the World Cup. Affected by injuries more than anyone else, Deschamps had to do without several rookie theorists in making the list (Kimpembe, Kanté, Pogba or Tolisso). Already called up to 26, he lost two other players before he even started (Nkunku and Benzema). The finish came in the first game, when Lucas Hernández had to leave the game against Australia twelve minutes after the start with a new injury that forced him to retire from the World Cup.
The situation is worrying, because Deschamps looks at the sofa and cannot find what he needs. Against England, in the quarter-finals, he made only one substitution (Coman for Dembélé). Against Morocco in the semi-finals there were two (Thuram for Giroud and Kolo Muani for Dembélé). They were also not exhausted against Denmark, in the first phase, and against Poland, in the round of 16. As the tournament progressed, the French coach also limited the confidence of his most qualified men. The defeat in the first phase against Tunisia, a game he played with the theoretical substitutes, finally convinced him of the need to always have the strongest. Twelve of the 25 members of the team do not reach the 120 minutes of play. Now any new loss between them could be too strong a setback for their team.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
