Defender Jules Koundé and goalkeeper Mike Maignan, injured Thursday against Austria, “will not be available“Sunday against Denmark in Copenhagen for the last day of the League of Nations, announced the coach of the France team Didier Deschamps, faced with a cascade of injuries.
“Jules has a hamstring muscle problem (back of the thigh, editor’s note), and Mike has a calf problem“, has explained “DDin a press conference after the match won 2-0 by the Blues. Physical problems continue to accumulate over the head of the coach, already deprived of many players for this first gathering of the season, the last before the World Cup in November in Qatar.
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Deschamps did not indicate whether he intended to recall players
Koundé, 23, sat down on the Stade de France lawn in the first half and removed his shin guards before the trainers entered the field. The doctor of the Blues, Franck Le Gall, helped him to get up and the change was recorded. William Saliba replaced him in the 23rd minute.
Goalkeeper N.1 in the absence of Hugo Lloris, package in September, Maignan for his part was replaced at half-time by Alphonse Areola after feeling a “little painin the left calf, according to the staff. Deschamps did not indicate whether he intended to recall players to replace these two injured for the trip to Copenhagen.
Two months before the World Cup in Qatar, the France team is hit by a wave of injuries. Captain Hugo Lloris is missing, like Presnel Kimpembe, brothers Theo and Lucas Hernandez, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kanté, Kingsley Coman and Karim Benzema. “The reasons are the accumulation, the short recovery time. There are psychological demands too. You always have to win, so of course… We weren’t spared, having two more is a lot. If I can have none in two months that would be perfect.“, concluded Deschamps.
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