From our Special Envoy in Doha,
Traditions are being lost… While we were supposed to start the famous Journal-des-Bleus-que-le-monde-nous-envy on Thursday, the day after the arrival of the French team in Qatar, the busy schedule of this World Cup What The Fuck Infantino version decided otherwise. Will you ever forgive us? But rest assured, the machine is launched and you can now enjoy the news of your favorite players every morning.
The French school of Doha invited to training
What the late Jacques Martin forgot to say is that if the children are great, they are nonetheless LOUDAAAAAAANTS. Invited to attend the first training session of the French team on Thursday evening, a hundred kids from the French school Voltaire in Doha set fire to the Al Saad stadium, in the eastern suburbs of Doha. On the program, songs, high-pitched cries and lots of smiles. We would have liked to go and collect their impressions, but they were installed in the stands in front of the press box. Next time, promise.
Benzema and Varane (still) stand apart
Arrived at Clairefontaine with the injured tag heat-sealed on their foreheads, Karim Benzema and Raphaël Varane did not take part in the collective session on Thursday evening. After a short ball-to-the-foot warm-up with the rest of the herd, the two men branched off on the edge of the sidelines to personalized exercises with Cyril Moinethe physical trainer of the Blues.
Fright Olivier Giroud
Two days after Christopher Nkunku’s package and three after Presnel Kimpembe’s, we sweated profusely when we saw Olivier Giroud collapse on the lawn, take off his shoe and take his foot with both hands after a harmless strike. More fear than harm in the end for the old hoodlum of the France team, since he got up fairly quickly and was able to finish the session without apparent discomfort.
Hot, not hot, the debate is open
Two rooms, two atmospheres at a press conference on Thursday. Asked in turn about the weather conditions in Qatar, Olivier Giroud and Aurélien Tchouaméni gave two opposing answers. For the first “it’s a fairly stifling heat” while on the Madrid side, we expected “worse” and we are “pleasantly surprised”. And since we are asked for our opinion (no), we will give it: the 30° average is more bearable than the furnace of Munich or Budapest last summer at the Euro.
The program of the day
As will be the case every day throughout the World Cup, two players from the France team will appear at a press conference on Friday (at 10 a.m. French time). After Giroud and Tchouaméni, it’s the turn of Lucas Hernandez and Adrien Rabiot to take the stage. The Blues will then train at the Al Saad stadium around 7 p.m.