Sick, Kingsley Coman, Ibrahima Konaté and Raphaël Varane did not participate in training Friday collective, “arranged” according to the management.
“I’m not going to go into detail. We make sure to take as many precautions as possible, to adapt, to deal with it, without going overboard, one way or the other. It’s obviously a situation … if it might not have existed it would have been better. But we manage as well as possible,” added Deschamps.
Didier Deschamps, or the art of adapting at all times
Victims of blows, Théo Hernandez and Aurélien Tchouaméni were also preserved Friday, leaving the Blues with a squad of 19 players out of 24 two days before the final.
The “viral syndrome” mentioned by the management had first affected Dayot Upamecano, then Adrien Rabiot, two holders of the standard team who did not participate in the semi-final once morest Morocco on Wednesday (2-0) .
Various symptoms have been mentioned in recent days by different players, staff members or sources close to the Blues: fever, stomach aches or even headaches.
Sanitary precautions were taken at the Hôtel des Bleus, with hydroalcoholic gel, the implementation of barrier gestures and the isolation of contaminated players.
But the Covid-19 screening tests are no longer imposed by Fifa, organizer of the tournament.
“We are never prepared for this kind of thing, but we try to prepare in the best way,” assured captain Hugo Lloris to the press. “These are hazards. But that does not take away the concentration, the excitement that one can have at the dawn of a World Cup final”.
Defending champions France take on Argentina at Lusail Stadium on Sunday to clinch a third world title.
