In the 25 players summoned for the World Cup, the coach of the France team decided on Wednesday to call several players in still unknown form.
The veil is now lifted. Didier Deschamps announced, Wednesday, November 9, the list of players he will take to the World Cup in Qatar (November 20-December 18). It has 25 names including Raphaël Varane, Presnel Kimpembe, Jules Koundé and Karim Benzema, all four injured or convalescing for several weeks.
“The cases of Varane and Kimpembe are differentexplained in the preamble the coach of the Blues on TF1, Wednesday. Presnel [Kimpembe] had a small problem but he is already available to play with his club this weekend. For Raphael [Varane], it’s a slightly longer injury but he could be available for the first match against Australia on November 22, if all goes well.”
Injured in the hamstrings, the Manchester United defender has not played since October 22 while the Parisian has walked the lawn for only 70 minutes since September 10 due to a hamstring injury then his heel. Achille. Regarding Karim Benzema, who has only played 28 minutes in Real Madrid’s last five meetings, “he will be ready”continued Didier Deschamps.
However, their presence in the list concocted by the Basque was not certain in view of the restricted timing before the entry into the running of the Blues in the World Cup. “I will not leave with any player who cannot be physically fit for the first match”he had warned in September.
A principle that he wanted to recall at a press conference on Wednesday, after the announcement of the 25 selected: “All special cases are different, but from the moment I made the decision to put the players on the list, they were supposed to be fit for the first match.” Unlike Mike Maignan, for whom he was not “not possible to be operational on time”Varane, Kimpembe, Benzema and Koundé (withdrawal from Barcelona’s last three games) meet his criteria.
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The decision to take them to Qatar was also helped by the possibility of registering up to 26 players to participate in the World Cup. An option to which Didier Deschamps was not really in favor in recent months with the risk, according to him, of tarnishing the atmosphere in the group. “One of the most important objectives for me and my staff is not to lose anyone during the tournament, he justified. At first they’re all smiling, they’re all happy to be there, then there’s the first game, and I can’t get them all to play at the same time.”
But circumstances led him to modify his thinking a little. “Taking 25 players, I consider that we have enough security to participate and be in this competition. If I thought that 24 had been enough, I would have taken 24. I believe that we have enough security”, said the coach at a press conference. With nine defenders selected – the most extensive line -, Didier Deschamps still anticipates possible additional injuries or a wider rotation if Raphaël Varane, Presnel Kimpembe or Jules Koundé were to run out of pace at the start of the World Cup.
“They will arrive on Monday in a state of form that we cannot change”, recognized Didier Deschamps on TF1. Two days later, the delegation will fly to Qatar with its players in disparate form. “You will not be able to undermine my morale”concluded, with a smile, the 1998 world champion.