The new conscripts join the ranks of the vice-champions of the world thanks to the international retirements of Hugo Lloris and Raphaël Varane, captain and vice-captain three months ago in Doha, and the Ballon d'Or Karim Benzema, angry with the coach.

They also take advantage of the absence of several regulars such as Presnel Kimpembe, Lucas Hernandez, Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kanté, Ousmane Dembélé or Christopher Nkunku, all diminished by physical glitches.

Despite these constraints, Deschamps has always had the concern to "prepare the medium term," he assured Thursday in front of the press. It is necessary "to have answers for the future while keeping competitiveness, because we will be in the strongest right away".

The start of the qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 in Germany, against the Netherlands on March 24 in Saint-Denis and March 27 against Ireland in Dublin, will therefore be written with three new faces, including that of Brice Samba.

At 28, the goalkeeper of Lens will finally enter the Château de Clairefontaine, Monday, and complete an unprecedented trio with Mike Maignan, new number one in the cage deserted by Lloris, and with Alphonse Areola, a regular of the French bench.

The last bulwark of the best defense of Ligue 1 has doubled Alban Lafont, younger (24 years) and who "would also deserve" to be called, according to Deschamps.

The Thuram brothers reunited

Samba will know the joys of the traditional "hazing" in song to which the newcomers to the Blues must comply. But he will not feel alone since Wesley Fofana and Khéphren Thuram will also be entitled to it.

© Yasin AKGUL / AFP/Archives

Fofana has often come close to the big Blues but multiple injuries have delayed the deadline. His rise to power at Chelsea has convinced Deschamps, who has been following him for a long time.

The 24-year-old enters the dense competition of central defenders alongside Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konaté and William Saliba.

The sides will be given to Jules Koundé and Benjamin Pavard, on the right, while the left flank will be occupied by Theo Hernandez and Eduardo Camavinga, midfielder already used in this position by the coach during the World Cup.

The young midfielder Khéphren Thuram will find his older brother Marcus, also listed in this first list of 2023.

The 21-year-old from Nice certainly benefits from the forfeit of Pogba and Kante but he was preferred to the more experienced Mattéo Guendouzi (7 sel.), less radiant than before with OM, and Valentin Rongier.

No choice of captain yet

The attacking line is the same as at the World Cup, with one exception: the absence of Dembélé reopens the door to Moussa Diaby (23), not retained for Qatar but in a good pass at Leverkusen.

At 36, the eternal Giroud convinced Deschamps to extend their shared history, which is more than a decade old. The top scorer in the history of the Blues, still decisive Monday against Salernitana (1-1) with AC Milan, also benefits from the absence of Benzema, who announced his retirement after Qatar.

The Madrid native may have called the coach a "clown" and a "liar", but he did not want to put a coin back in the controversy machine.

© FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives

"I had to express myself to say what had happened (regarding Benzema's injury and departure at the World Cup). It's a closed subject, behind, I'm not going to comment anything again," Deschamps said.

The coach was more talkative on the question of captaincy. He said he had not made his decision but prefers "to have a well-defined choice" of a captain and a vice-captain: "There are some that I retain possible, obviously Kylian is one of them".

"It will go through discussions with them before I make my decision," Deschamps said, because "there is a responsibility in relation to being captain, with slightly more important obligations."

© 2023 AFP