Like the Austrians two hours before them, Thursday June 9, Didier Deschamps and his deputy Guy Stéphan spent a few moments observing the field closely. They felt this green rectangle of five meters by four in the central circle, which denotes with the rest of the lawn of the Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna. While a hole with a depth of thirty centimeters formed after the match against Denmark on Monday, UEFA validated Wednesday the maintenance of the meeting between Austria and France. For its part, the ÖFB (the Austrian Football Federation) has made sure to fill up.
The Blues will nevertheless have to adapt to this part of the field which promises to be less playable than the rest of the field, with an increased risk of injury. “A priori, everything has been checked. There may be a little apprehension but the training will allow us to test this lawn well“, explained Hugo Lloris in a press conference, a few minutes before training.
All the players of the France team were able to make their mark with this capricious central circle, except three players: Adrien Rabiot, Kylian Mbappé, and N’Golo Kanté. The first two contented themselves with a short jog around the lawn, while their teammate was not present at the session in the gray weather (followed by a heavy downpour). “For tomorrow, I don’t know yet“if they will be available, underlined Didier Deschamps.
The coach, who made ten changes in his starting XI between the defeat against Denmark (1-2) and the draw against Croatia (1-1), announced a new important rotation against Austria. On the other hand, the coach did not leave any clue as to which system will be preferred, with a potential return to three central defenders.
Mbappé’s turn to appear on the lawn of the Ernst-Happel stadium for a jog. #AUTFRA pic.twitter.com/qPkuDXkd3O
— Denis Menetrier (@DMenetrier) June 9, 2022
The Blues boss appeared slightly more relaxed than at his last two press conferences in Split. In particular, he made the whole room laugh by telling the translator that it was not necessary to explain in German his very brief answer on the future of Zinedine Zidane.
Didier Deschamps also mentioned the Austrian team, “impressive on the dynamism and physical freshness“. His team will have to win on Friday if they want to stand a chance of retaining their Nations League title.