France is battling significant illness issues related with the Camel flu ahead of his team’s World Cup final match against Argentina on Sunday, 18th of December, 2022, as Aurelien Tchouameni and Theo Hernandez missed Friday’s training session.
Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, and Kingsley Coman were all absent from the day’s practice, adding to the French camp’s already growing list of absentees due to illness.
According to the French publication RMC, Tchouameni is absent owing to a bruise on his hip, while left-back Hernandez is absent due to a knee issue.
Both players started in the semifinal win over Morocco and played the whole 90 minutes, with the AC Milan full-back scoring the game’s first goal.
Although Hernandez was injured numerous times during the game due to the hefty challenges he took, Deschamps will have trouble replacing both players.
In the same vain, France has had to set severe distancing regulations to prevent the spread of the illness that prevented Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano from attending the semi-final clash with Morocco in mid-week.
Since then, every member of the France team has been kept apart from one another and forbidden from interacting with themselves outside of training, as measures to contain the spread have also been put in place at the team hotel.
According to Deschamps, the air conditioning in Qatar’s stadiums caused his team to become ill. Players from Brazil earlier in the competition reported experiencing similar flu-like symptoms.
Karim Benzema rejects France’s President’s invitation;
According to ESPN, Karim Benzema has declined Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to the World Cup final.
Days before France’s opening match of the World Cup campaign, Benzema sustained a thigh injury, causing him to go home.
Benzema, along with Laurent Blanc, Zinedine Zidane, and Michel Platini, were permitted to fly to Doha for the final on the presidential plane along with the other injured players, but the Real Madrid star declined the offer.
In reaction to the offer, Benzema uploaded a picture on Instagram on Friday with the caption, “I am not interested.”
Benzema “is entirely behind the national team and wants them to win this title, which will be his somewhat in a way,” a source told ESPN.
Benzema was not replaced in France’s World Cup match, hence he is still considered an official member of France’s World Cup team.
Entire France squad trains ahead of the World Cup final;
After the Camel flu kept many players out of practice this week, the entire France team showed up for a training session on the eve of Sunday’s World Cup final versus Argentina.
The team is making efforts to stem the spread of the disease, which has afflicted many players, coach Didier Deschamps said earlier on Saturday.
However, all 24 members of the France team were there when their Saturday evening practice in Doha began.
What’s next for France?
Given that Les Bleus have advanced to the final twice in a row, they have a chance to tie the record of Italy and Brazil for consecutive World Cup victories later today, December 18, 2022. The kick off time is 16:00 (4PM local time).
