Final adjustments before officially starting the year 2022. After a start to the week spent near Clairefontaine, the players of the French team reached Marseille on Thursday March 24 and took part in their last training session at the Vélodrome stadium, on the eve of the friendly match against Ivory Coast. Under the Marseille sun, the Blues have refined the details of the 3-5-2 that Didier Deschamps will put in place for this meeting. But one player, and not just any player, did not participate in the training session: Kylian Mbappé.
The participation of the Paris Saint-Germain striker in the meeting is still very uncertain, after suffering “an ENT infection“, as Deschamps explained in a press conference, in the bowels of the Vélodrome.”I will update him and the medical staff on Friday.“, added the coach. The decision to establish Mbappé will therefore be taken in the last hours before the match against the Elephants, while Deschamps made it clear that the absence of Mbappé on Tuesday in marketing and commercial operations had not had “no incident” on the group.
Another major absentee at this training session, N’Golo Kanté is certain not to be available. The Chelsea midfielder has temporarily left the gathering for family reasons and should be available for the second match against South Africa next Tuesday at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium. Without Mbappé and Kanté, the eighteen other outfield players and the three goalkeepers took part in training.
Let’s go for the last training of the Blues before the match against Côte d’Ivoire.
Kylian Mbappé is absent from the session due to an ENT infection. His participation in tomorrow’s game is still undecided. N’Golo Kanté will not be present. #FRACIV pic.twitter.com/Wl3RMnli5E— Denis Menetrier (@DMenetrier) March 24, 2022
Dimitri Payet, the midfielder of Olympique de Marseille, crossed in the corridors of the Vélodrome, came to greet his former teammates before the start of the training session. One of them was particularly motivated: Antoine Griezmann made the Vélodrome resonate several times with his cries of joy, after beating Olivier Giroud in the race.
Before the players arrived on the lawn, Deschamps made it clear that he wanted “see as many people as possible on the pitch” during these two games. During the nine-on-nine confrontation at the end of training, it was Christopher Nkunku who was aligned at the forefront alongside Antoine Griezmann. Kingsley Coman should occupy the position of right piston and Jules Koundé that of third defender with Lucas Hernandez and Raphaël Varane.In the absence of Mbappé, it remains to be seen whether Deschamps will trust the returning Giroud.
Very calm, the Vélodrome should be much hotter on Friday at the start of the evening. 65,000 people are expected in the spans of the stadium, while France will return to Marseille for the first time since the semi-final of Euro 2016 against Germany (2-0). “A great memory“, underlined Hugo Lloris in a press conference. The captain of the Blues, who expects “a tough game“, announced that it wanted to offer a “good performance `“to the Marseille supporters.
The probable composition of the Blues : Lloris – Koundé, Varane, Lucas Hernandez – Coman, Pogba, Tchouaméni, Théo Hernandez – Griezmann, Mbappé (or Giroud), Nkunku.