The Blues had not crossed paths with Bafan Bafana since 2010 and the sad memory of Knysna. The France team meets South Africa this Tuesday (9:15 p.m.) in Lille for a friendly match. The debacle of the French on June 22, 2010 (2-1 defeat) which sent the players home at the end of the first round of the World Cup seems to belong to another life. The only survivor of these dark years of tricolor football is called Hugo Lloris, captain with 137 selections. He no longer has anything to do with the young and discreet goalkeeper he was on the evening of his 14th cap.
The Blues are now reigning world champions and little concerned by the history linking them to South Africans on the road to the next World Cup, scheduled for November and December in Qatar.
After the victory against Côte d’Ivoire (2-1), snatched on Friday at the last minute in Marseille, the objectives of coach Didier Deschamps are clear: “Continue to perform” and “concern a maximum of players“.
Rotate the workforce
The Blues will play this match in a sold-out Pierre-Mauroy stadium (50,000 seats) against South Africa, 68th nation in the world and not qualified for the next World Cup in Qatar. This will be the last friendly match before going to Doha at the end of November. The six matches that France will play in June and September are part of the League of Nations.
“These are (friendly) matches that serve us for the future. There are some that I haven’t seen a lot. I will not manage to concern the 23, but the greatest number“, promised Deschamps Friday evening in Marseille, after having offered a first selection to Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba and Jonathan Clauss.
Some executives preserved on Friday must therefore logically return to the starting lineup: this is the case of N’Golo Kanté, back on Sunday at Clairefontaine after being absent for a few days for family reasons, of Mbappé, recovered from an ENT infection which deprived him of playing time on the shores of the Mediterranean, or even of Presnel Kimpembe, recovered after bronchitis.
Second selection for Maignan
Adrien Rabiot can also consider a tenure by virtue of the rotation in the midfield, occupied at the Vélodrome by the doublet composed of the manager Paul Pogba and Aurélien Tchouaméni, scorer in additional time and considered the man of the match by many many observers. In the “starting blocks”, Clauss and Saliba dream of a first tenure in the selection, after tasting a few minutes at the Stade Vélodrome.
For the OM player, the opening seems possible because Raphaël Varane finished the first match with a hematoma on his foot. As for the Lens side, who discovers the French team with stars in his eyes at 29, he has the opportunity to shine about thirty kilometers from the Bollaert stadium, like Lucas Digne on the left flank or Moussa Diaby in attack, two players unused on Friday.
Even the immutable position of goalkeeper was in balance: in front of his former Lille audience, Mike Maignan will replace Lloris and celebrate his first tenure, after coming into play at the end of 2020 in a friendly match against Ukraine (7-1). “Mike will start tomorrow,” Didier Deschamps announced at a press conference on Monday evening. Scorer at the Vélodrome, Olivier Giroud will watch for every minute of play at his disposal to try to get a little closer to Thierry Henry’s goal record (51). An improbable quadruple would allow the Milanese to match it.