The setting up last night at the Stade de France has left a surprise: the central hinge of the Blues should be composed of Adil Rami and Mamadou Sakho, tonight. The last time the two defenders were lined up together was in June 2013, during a tour in Brazil (3-0 defeat). Against Uruguay, they will take the continuation of the hinge Varane - Kimpembe and will have to help the France team to conclude 2018 on a good note.
Surprise last night during the session setting up the Blues at the Stade de France. After the non-match in the Netherlands (2-0), Didier Deschamps should trust the hinge Rami-Sakho, more aligned for five and a half years in the French team. To them the heavy burden of containing the formidable Uruguayan duo: Cavani - Suarez.
Mamadou Sakho, the end of the tunnel
Almost five years to the day after the memorable victory against Ukraine (3-0), who sent the Blues to the World Cup 2014, the hero of this dam (he had scored a double, his only two goals in blue) made his great return in France team. Called last month without playing against Iceland and Germany, on the bench in the Netherlands on Friday, Sakho (28, 28 caps) will honor his first selection for two and a half years and a victory against Russia ( 4-2), in March 2016.
In the absence of Umtiti, still ahead of the generation knocking at the door in the spirit of Deschamps (Laporte, Lenglet, Abdou Diallo), the left-handed defender Crystal Palace takes the thread of a story that is written in dotted for several years.
Pillar of the Blues before the 2014 World Cup, Sakho saw his international career suddenly freeze in April 2016. Suspended as a precautionary measure by UEFA for a violation of the anti-doping code, after taking a slimming product, the former Parisian was laundered in July 2016, but too late to participate in the Euro in France.
Substitute for the Russian World, paying a career seesawed in England (Liverpool then Crystal Palace) but much appreciated by Deschamps for his state of mind, here is Sakho back in blue. "Mamadou is very attached to the France team , the coach said in October. I did not take it for him to reach out or reward him. Sakho will have to prove himself tonight against Uruguay, to prove that he is not there by chance and that he still has some good years ahead of him in the national team.
Adil Rami, the last fires
He is the only world champion not to have played a single second of the World Cup last summer in Russia. Barred by the essential Raphael Varane (that Deschamps is going to blow tonight, because he just returned from injury and was aligned in the Netherlands), Adil Rami still weighed in the conquest of the world title, the opinion of its partners.
Grandfather and ambianceur of the tricolor cloakroom, the defender of Olympique de Marseille (32 years old, 35 caps) will want to prove tonight that he deserves his place in blue, even if he is not at his best. its shape since the beginning of the season with Olympique de Marseille. It is not yet the time of the international retirement for the old Sevillian and Milanese, but a missed performance against the Uruguayans would push him a little more towards the exit, even if the rivals for the post of axial right (Zouma or even Upamecano) are not legion since the retirement of Laurent Koscielny ...