the French team affected by a mysterious illness

The shadow of a virus hangs over the Blues on Friday December 16, two days before the World Cup final which pits the French team against Argentina on Sunday December 18. “There is a little flu spreading but nothing bad”explained Randal Kolo Muani, the Blues striker, at a press conference on Friday afternoon.

48 hours before kick-off (4:00 p.m.), the team of Didier Deschamps, who had himself conceded on Wednesday half-word that a virus was prowling in the hotel des Bleus, after Adrien’s package Rabiot for the semi-final and the benching of Dayot Upamecano, seems far from being at the top of his form.

« Petit syndrome viral »

On Friday, the coach of the Blues had to resolve to leave warm rather than let them train at the end of the afternoon the defenders Raphaël Varane and Ibrahima Konaté, as well as the winger Kingsley Coman, “preserved” according to a source close to the Blues, who evokes ” probably “ a cold snap.

Coman was already absent from the session organized on Thursday due to a « petit syndrome viral » according to the explanation given by the French Football Federation. “His condition does not inspire particular concern about Sunday’s final”she had specified.

Air conditioning, ubiquitous in Qatar, has been singled out to explain the poor form of some players. “The temperatures have rather dropped, there is the air conditioning on full blast. There are feverish states”explains Didier Deschamps.

Some media have also speculated that the players of the France team were affected by the “camel virus”, a type of coronavirus. The Australian Department of Health had warned that citizens returning from the 2022 FIFA World Cup “should be aware of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)”.

Rabiot and Upamecano are doing better

The anxiety in the camp of the Blues must be whether other players could be affected by Sunday. On the good news side, Deschamps was reassuring about the presence of Adrien Rabiot, who returned to training on Thursday, as did Upamecano, the central defender, who was also ill against Morocco.

The return of Rabiot is excellent news for France as the midfielder of Juventus Turin is one of the strong men of a team that has arrived very diminished by the many packages in all lines: goalkeeper No. 2 Mike Maignan, Presnel Kimpembe behind , Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté in the middle, Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku in front.