The goalkeeper of the Blues Vincent Gérard missed all the preparation for Créteil of the France team due to a family drama, but Guillaume Gille announced on Wednesday that he had resumed specific work with his club Paris SG and was on the way home.

"The last moments of evaluation have allowed us to confirm his good physical shape and his desire to support the project of the France team," explained the coach during a press point by videoconference on Friday evening, aware the "luxury" of being able to "take it on the luggage rack and more if affinities".

Gérard had been one of the main architects of the Olympic coronation of the French in Tokyo, only five months ago.

The joy of handball players Nikola Karabatic, Nicolas Tournat and the coach of the French team Guillaume Gille, after the victory (25-23) against Denmark in the final of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, August 7, 2021 Franck FIFE AFP /Archives

The French will take the direction of Germany on Saturday noon for Frankfurt (center), and will play their only preparation match Sunday in Wetzlar in the early evening (7 p.m.) against Germany.

Bos and Monar recalled

The captain of the Blues Valentin Porte will not be able to travel to Germany this weekend.

"This is the tile of the last few days. Valentin Porte was diagnosed positive for Covid. This forced us to take somewhat drastic measures to limit the spread of the virus within the team," said Guillaume Gille.

Right-back Valentin Porte, during the quarter-final between France and Bahrain, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, April 3, 2021 Franck FIFE AFP

Porte was placed in isolation and awaiting a possible return (he will have to present two negative tests, separated by at least 24 hours, on the fifth day of the infection, according to the protocol of the European Federation) , Julien Bos was called, just like Théo Monar on the pivot position.

These two players will have to validate their PCR tests, while Monar was positive for Covid on December 31.

The France team has been affected by several backlashes since the start of the preparation: the injuries of Timothey N'Guessan, Nedim Remili and Luka Karabatic (three Olympic champions), the positive tests of eight players including Nikola Karabatic before Christmas , and finally the knife attack of which Elohim Prandi was victim on the night of December 31 to January 1.

After the preparation match against Germany, the Blues will travel to Hungary in Szeged on Monday, where they will play the first round of Euro-2022.

They will start Thursday against Croatia (8:30 p.m.), then follow two days later against Serbia (6:00 p.m.) and finally two more days later against Ukraine.

They have to take one of the first two places in the group to get to the main round that awaits them in Budapest.

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The group of 20 players

Goalkeepers: Rémi Desbonnet (Nîmes), Vincent Gérard (Paris SG), Wesley Pardin (Aix)

Left wingers: Hugo Descat (Montpellier), Dylan Nahi (Kielce / POL)

Left-backs: Thibaud Briet (Nantes), Nikola Karabatic (Paris SG), Karl Konan (Aix), Romain Lagarde (Aix)

Centerbacks: Kentin Mahé (Veszprem / HUN), Aymeric Minne (Aix)

Pivots: Ludovic Fabregas (FC Barcelona / ESP), Théo Monar (Nantes), Nicolas Tournat (Kielce / POL)

Right-backs: Julien Bos (Montpellier, Dika Mem (FC Barcelona / ESP), Melvyn Richardson (FC Barcelona / ESP)

Right wingers: Benoît Kounkoud (Paris SG), Yanis Lenne (Montpellier), Valentin Porte (c.) (Montpellier)

© 2022 AFP