The coach of the Blues Didier Deschamps recalled, Thursday, November 4, Alphonse Areola and Kingsley Coman within the French football team.

The last internship of the year 2021, supposed to ensure the qualification of the Blues for the 2022 World Cup, will therefore take place without any newcomer.

One year before the World Cup in Qatar (21 November-18 December), the coach of the world champions has an almost complete group, whose contours are confirmed before facing Kazakhstan on November 13 at the Parc des Princes and Finland three days later in Helsinki.

Apart from the injuries of Varane (thigh) and number 2 goalkeeper Mike Maignan (wrist), the technician did not shake up his list of 23 compared to the victorious team of the League of Nations in October, after two stunning matches against Belgium (3-2) and Spain (2-1).

At a press conference, he admitted to betting on "a logic of continuity", especially "when things are going well".

The changes come mainly from long-awaited injury returns: Kingsley Coman, recovered from a slight surgery to the heart, will find Clairefontaine on Monday, like N'Golo Kanté, in isolation during the October internship for contamination with Covid- 19.

"Areola has lived with us"

Other reunions, less obvious, concern Alphonse Areola, back in the group after two years of absence.

The West Ham goalkeeper, who certainly only plays the Cups but has still not conceded a single goal, was preferred to Steve Mandanda, without playing time at OM, or even Illan Meslier, the Hopes goalkeeper.

He will support captain Hugo Lloris alongside veteran Bordeaux player Benoît Costil.

"Certainly, Alphonse does not play all the matches, but the matches he plays, he is efficient. He does not have the playing time of a holder, but he plays, he has a lived experience with us, and that seems logical to me to recall it ", explained" DD ".

Neophytes will have to wait: neither Christopher Nkunku, in good shape with Leipzig, nor William Saliba, acclaimed in Marseille, will discover the Blues in November.

In attack, dreams of record goals in Blue, sought by Olivier Giroud, fade a little further for the 35-year-old Milanese, still dismissed as since the start of the school year.

Martial, Thuram and Dembélé absent

Deschamps indeed maintains his confidence in his attacking trio composed of Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema, systematically established when the three players were available.

Barred by the competition of this "golden triangle", Wissam Ben Yedder and Moussa Diaby will try to exist, in addition to Coman.

But not Anthony Martial, absent from the list after a month of October with almost no playing time at Manchester United, nor Marcus Thuram, recently recovered from an injury, nor Ousmane Dembélé, whose club, Barça, has just announced. a new physical glitch.

The competition is just as fierce in the midfield: the Pogba-Kanté duo is completed, as often, by Adrien Rabiot, and these are the young Aurélien Tchouaméni (21 years old, 5 selections) and Mattéo Guendouzi (22 years old, 0 selection) which benefit from the confidence of Deschamps for November.

Back from injury, Corentin Tolisso is not recalled, just like Jordan Veretout, a newcomer in September who will have to wait.

The brothers Lucas and Theo Hernandez are renewed in defense for the second time in a row, in an unsurprisingly French rearguard, where Kurt Zouma replaces Varane.

Les Bleus, at the top of Group D in the World Cup qualifiers, will qualify for the World Cup in Qatar if they beat Kazakhstan on November 13.

Even in the event of a poor performance, a draw would be enough for them on November 16 in Finland to validate their ticket.

With AFP

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