“There is a real lack of experience in the midfield” football consultant and world champion, Bixente Lizarazu, analyzes Tuesday, November 1 on franceinfo, after the announcement of midfielder Paul Pogba’s package for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which begins on November 20.
The injury of Paul Pogba, Juventus midfielder in Turin, is added to that of N’Golo Kanté, Chelsea midfielder. “It’s a lot because they are two pillars of the Blues, two 2018 world champions and they are players who have a lot of experience”.
In their place, France will be able to count on younger players, and therefore with fewer bottles, such as Aurélien Tchouaméni, or Adrien Rabiot. “Tchouaméni is simply 14 selections and Rabiot, 29”recalls Bixente Lizarazu. “And I’m not talking about the younger ones, like Guendouzi, Camara, Fofana, Camavinga…”
There are also injuries in defense with the absence, for the moment, of Raphaël Varane, injured in the thigh. But on this point, Bixente Lizarazu is less worried: “Varane can be in time, Lucas Hernandez (who resumed training with Bayern Munich, editor’s note) and Presnel Kimpembe (who has been playing with PSG since Wednesday October 26, editor’s note)too”.
Bixente Lizarazu is also optimistic for Karim Benzema, who has returned to training with Real Madrid after suffering a thigh injury. “The danger is the midfield”insists the former side with 97 selections for the France team.
Bixente Lizarazu recalls a notable absence during the 2002 World Cup in Japan, when the Blues were defending champions: “We had a very good team, the best strikers in the world. But we had very poor preparation. We also had a major injury, that of Zizou, which handicapped us a lot. It went very badly”.