The winger of the France team Ousmane Dembélé, hit in the knee on Saturday during the match against Hungary, was forced to forfeit the rest of the Euro.
His package has just been formalized by the French Football Federation: the winger of the France team Ousmane Dembélé leaves the Blues in full European competition. Qualified as a luxury replacement for the France team, the 24-year-old FC Barcelona player was forced to leave Saturday at the end of the match against Hungary, thirty minutes after replacing Adrien Rabiot in the 57th, giving way to Thomas Lemar.
X-rays taken on Sunday to determine the severity of his injury “To the tendon of a knee” revealed “Recovery times incompatible with his retention in the group”, according to the FFF. The tricolor management had yet shown confident Saturday night and Sunday, relying on a simple blow received on the back of a knee. “There was a reaction to the tendon in one knee. Apparently it would be a hit but we will check that ”, Didier Deschamps said on Sunday in the Téléfoot program.
Other offensive options
For Dembélé, this is yet another disillusionment at the end of one of the rare seasons where he has been relatively spared from injuries. In particular, he was coming back from a six-month absence after a complete rupture of the tendon of the biceps femoris in the right thigh in February 2020. In 2020-2021, he only experienced one slump for injury, missing five matches in the first half. ‘straightened out in a club in December for a little hamstring strain on the right thigh. Consequence: he had so far achieved a full season, with 44 matches played in club and 11 goals scored in all competitions.
A blow also for the coach who will have to continue his European epic with 25 players knowing that the former Rennais could not be replaced in the selection, because “Only the guards can be replaced […] in the final phase “, according to UEFA regulations. Deschamps nevertheless has other offensive options with Marcus Thuram and Thomas Lemar, as well as center-forward Olivier Giroud and Wissam Ben Yedder. But the Griezmann-Benzema-Mbappé triangle, far from having perfect its automatisms, seems to have a good head start before the third group match, Wednesday against Portugal in Budapest.
Didier Deschamps just has to cross his fingers so that the injuries do not accumulate, after this match played in scorching heat, very tiring for the body. For the moment, defender Benjamin Pavard has notably received a shock to the head against Germany and then suffered a bad fall against Hungary. And during the preparation, several players were diminished by light glitches (Hernandez, Benzema, Griezmann, Coman).
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