At this level, it’s not even bad luck anymore, it’s downright an unlimited subscription to shitty magazines… After the cascading injuries, it’s now time for the psychosis linked to the flu virus in the French team, that no one calls Covid-19 even though the word has been on everyone’s lips in Doha for the past few hours.
Return of health precautions
After Upamecano, Adrien Rabiot and Kingsley Coman, it is therefore the turn of Raphaël Varane and Ibrahima Konaté to be affected, to different degrees since the Liverpool defender seems to be in worse shape than his captain. Anyway, the two players are now isolated in their room according to what Ousmane Dembélé and Randal Kolo Muani told us, present at the press conference on Friday and responsible for speaking to the press on behalf of the group. Measures are taken to prevent the spread of the virus, hydroalcoholic gel at the table, regular hand washing, it seems very ridiculous when you see the way the players hugged and clapped their hands on Friday at training.
Doctor Dembele at your service
In an attempt to demine the subject, Ousmane Dembélé, alias Dembouz the Enchanter, softened the atmosphere by explaining that he had become the group’s official healer. “Dayot and Adrien had a stomach ache and a headache,” he told us. I made them a little tea with ginger and honey and afterwards they were better (laughs)! “. A few minutes earlier, the Blues press officer laughed less, telling us that Kolo Muani was “not a doctor”, implying stop asking him questions about the nature of the virus. In the meantime, the famous press release from the FFF that we were to receive shortly on the subject never reached us.
Other spare players
In addition to Varane, Konaté and Coman, two other players were missing during Friday’s collective session. “Aurélien Tchouaméni (hip contusion) and Théo Hernandez (knee contusion) are also spared and remain working indoors”, communicated the France team. If there were still smiles on their faces during training for the Blues on D-3 of the final, they would have done well without such a context which, whether we like it or not, will have an impact on preparation for this match against the Albiceleste.
The program of the day
Didier Deschamps and Hugo Lloris will be present at a press conference from the Doha media centre. The Blues will train in the evening, Saturday, at the Jassim Bin-Hamad stadium, for what will be their very last session in what will have been their headquarters for more than a month.