Sunday, the Louis-II stadium will be the scene of a duel of new contenders for a place in Blue in Qatar between the Monegasque defender and the Nantes goalkeeper.
A few weeks ago, neither Benoît Badiashile nor Alban Lafont really thought they could compete in the World Cup. But their first summons to the France team during the last gathering of the Blues in September gives them hope, even if they are a recourse in the event of executive injuries.
“When you are selected for the last list before the World Cup, of course, you can have ambitions and hope to participate.“, specifies Badiashile, of which Sylvain Ripoll, coach of the Hopes, appreciates”humility, reliability and determination“. With 47 selections as a youngster (including 16 in hopes), he is not a revelation for the DTN. From an early age, he has been nurtured and solicited by the biggest clubs. When Didier Deschamps got him started, he had known the Monegasque’s strengths and weaknesses for a long time, “job specialistof a left central defender. “But it does not offend him to say that there are a number of injured“, he specified.
He is back down to earth, trained well and is ready for the next few weeks.
Philip Clement
Badiashile took advantage of the absences of world champions Lucas Hernandez and Presnel Kimpembe. But his two selections (Austria and Denmark) showed that he could integrate the hierarchy behind them. And in front of Clément Lenglet. From now on, “he must confirm at each match“, insists Philippe Clement his coach in Monaco, who last March had a long meeting with the player to give him some guidelines in order to “gain regularity. He worked hard, grew on different points. But it is not finished. He must remain efficient, without thinking too much about the World Cup. It’s the coach’s choice. And when you’re French, you have the misfortune to have a lot of competition.» His team-mate Guillermo Maripan knows that he «won’t stop working“. “He don’t think he happenedhe says. “He’s back down to earth, trained well and is ready for the next few weeks.“, insists Clement.
His opponent, the Nantes player Alban Lafont is also successful in club. It was even mainly thanks to his demonstrations that Nantes collected their first points in Ligue 1. Reassuring despite the hesitations of their defense, they only made one mistake. It was during the victorious reunion with Europe against Olympiakos (2-1). Lafont missed a corner exit and offered the equalizer to the Greeks. After having confided his bitterness on social networks, he got back in the saddle, to reach the Grail: a call in A, he who has accumulated 37 selections as a young person, including 14 in hopes. Admittedly, he replaced Hugo Lloris, package. But Mike Maignan’s injury showed him that nothing was set in stone. Even if Alphonse Areola remains ahead of him and the return of Steve Mandanda may suggest that Deschamps still prefers the experience of Rennais to his youth.
I try to put things into perspective, I’m only 23 years old.
Alban Lafont
“It’s up to me to wait, to workexplains Lafont. I know I can do it. We talk about putting ourselves in the hard and that concerns me too. I have to look for even more to take another step.“He who would have seen himself leaving this summer in a club stamped C1 but who has not received an offer, remains”calm. I try to put things into perspective, I’m only 23he recalls. Of course, I have ambitions, I want to evolve immediately at the highest level, play the biggest competitions. But it doesn’t work like that. You have to work hard, be patient and above all be efficient where you are“. Both will have to be on Sunday, for this European opposition. As Lafont explains:Now the hardest thing is to go back and stay as long as possible” in blue.