A virus puts Deschamps’ plan in check

France faces the tension of the hours before the World Cup final tormented by a virus. The flu has entered the French dressing room and this Friday it kept three players out of action: Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konaté and Kingsley Coman. Before, it had also affected Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano, who, once the symptoms were over, returned to the penultimate training session. Aurelien Tchouaméni and Theo Hernández were also missing, although in their case due to small inconveniences that led them to stay in the gym.

The big concern is that in the next few hours more players could fall due to the virus, with no time to recover for the decisive match. The precautions are maximum both in the Al Messila hotel and in the Al Sadd stadium facilities, the two places where the current champion spends his days in Doha. The power of the air conditioning has been lowered and the affected players have been isolated and physical contact between the internationals outside the training ground has been prohibited.

Now everyone shakes a fist and is required to wash their hands frequently. They take it with humor. “We are not afraid of the virus, although measures have been taken,” said Ousmane Dembélé this Friday, one of the two players who came out to speak to the press before practice. “Rabiot and Upamecano had it and they got better after drinking tea with ginger and honey,” he said to the laughter of the audience.

The virus is the last stone in the complicated journey of France before and during the World Cup. More hit than anyone by injuries, Deschamps had to do without several starting theorists when it came to making the list (Kimpembe, Kanté, Pogba or Tolisso). Already with the 26 summoned, he lost two other players before even starting (Nkunku and Benzema). The finish came in the first game, when Lucas Hernández had to leave the match against Australia twelve minutes after the start with a new injury that made him say goodbye to the World Cup.

The situation is worrying, because Deschamps looks at the bench and can’t find what he needs. Against England, in the quarterfinals, he only made one change (Coman for Dembélé). Against Morocco in the semifinal there were two (Thuram for Giroud and Kolo Muani for Dembélé). Neither did they exhaust the changes against Denmark, in the first phase, nor against Poland, in the round of 16. As the tournament has progressed, the French coach has also been limiting the confidence of his most qualified men. The defeat in the first phase against Tunisia, a game that he faced with the theoretical substitutes, finished convincing him of the need to always have the strongest. Twelve of the 25 members of the team do not reach 120 minutes of play. Now, any new loss between them could be too strong a setback for his team.