Weakened by injuries, the Blues of Didier Deschamps hope to remain competitive while resting their executives, Wednesday evening in a friendly against Finland in Saint-Denis.
A golden opportunity for striker Marcus Thuram to discover the France A team before leaving the big names to the autumn summit on Saturday in Portugal.
Since the last outing of the reigning world champions, on October 14 in Zagreb (2-1 victory) in the Nations League, less than a month has passed and many of them have not had a single moment to breathe .
If some have been lucky enough to be put to rest at times in a club, others like N'Golo Kanté or Adrien Rabiot have played the trifle of seven matches between the two international gatherings, cumulating the Championship and the Champions League.
Difficult, in these conditions, to be at 100% when it comes time to find the Blues behind closed doors at the Stade de France, especially for a friendly match with a derisory stake compared to the one that awaits them on Saturday in Lisbon against the Portuguese, real "final" of their group of League of Nations.
Unlike the last two stages, the Covid-19 has spared the French, but the injuries are resurfacing in numbers.
"Take no risk"
The midfielders Nabil Fekir, Houssem Aouar and Eduardo Camavinga are forfeited, while the world champions Kylian Mbappé (thigh), Benjamin Pavard (thigh) and Presnel Kimpembe (foot) are well at the rendezvous at the Clairefontaine training center, but still recovering at the start of this gathering, which lasted for nine days.
1st training session of the rally with a smile 😁 #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/H4ukL62BIx
- French team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 10, 2020
"Pavard will not be available, it will be the case for 5 to 6 players that I will not be able to use tomorrow [Wednesday]", Didier Deschamps confirmed on the eve of the match.
On Tuesday evening, the Bayern Munich defender did not participate in collective training, like his club teammates Corentin Tolisso and Lucas Hernandez, as well as Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot, also remained indoors, according to the framing.
Parisians Kylian Mbappé and Presnel Kimpembe worked with physiotherapists on the sidelines of the group but in the field.
Eager to "take no risk" with the injured, the coach however has the weapons to compose a competitive eleven to challenge the selection of the "Grand Dukes" - nickname of the Finns -, 55th world nation qualified for the first Euro in its history and which remains on beautiful victories in League of Nations ahead of Ireland and Bulgaria.
"When I look at the list [of the Blues], there are almost thirty players of great quality, I do not think that it changes a lot of things between the team A and the team B", also reacted the coach Finnish Markku Kanerva on Tuesday from the Stade de France.
Marcus, twelve years after Lilian?
With 26 players available, against the 23 that can be counted on the scoresheet on Wednesday, Didier Deschamps has solutions to relieve the executives.
Kurt Zouma, Léo Dubois, even the last-minute caller, Ruben Aguilar, are options in defense in front of Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, announced holder on Wednesday.
But it is in attack that the eyes of the televiewers will be riveted: as holder or as entering, Marcus Thuram is awaited with curiosity for his debut in selection at 23 years old, a little more than twelve years after the last cape of his father, Lilian. , legendary 1998 world champion and 2000 European champion.
"Being 'son of' is not a selection criterion, if he is there, it is because I consider that he deserves it," the manager reiterated about the Mönchengladbach striker in Germany , called for the first time and "brought to have a role to play on the three matches".
With AFP
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