When his knee gave out at the start of the match and he already knew that he would no longer push back a World Cup lawn, did Lucas Hernandez have a thought for his replacement? Seriously injured in the right knee ligament against Australia, out of the rest of the competition, the 2018 world champion leaves the field open to another Hernandez, Theo, his junior by a year.
At 25, it was the latter who entered the field at the Al-Janoub stadium when it was necessary to replace Lucas early. At this time of the match, the Blues were stunned, led 1-0 on the action where their left side broke his ligament. And it is from Théo that the awakening of the France team came. Twenty minutes later, the AC Milan player caressed the ball with his left foot to find Adrien Rabiot who equalized. Thanks to the wealth of the Hernandez siblings, the Blues got their heads back.
Very active in his 8e selection, Théo Hernandez has once again shown his offensive qualities and his panoply of modern full-back. His brother now has 32 selections for the France team, even if his last one only lasted nine minutes. Lucas Hernandez suffered a groin injury on September 13 and only returned to competition on November 5.
After Karim Benzema’s package on Saturday in training, those before him of Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kanté, Presnel Kimpembe, Mike Maignan and Christopher Nkunku, the list of injured tricolors looks like a litany. “It’s starting to do a lot”, regretted captain Hugo Lloris. Olivier Giroud held “to dedicate the game” at the unfortunate evening.
“Lucas is a warrior”
A few minutes after the final whistle, Lucas Hernandez’s two teammates at Bayern Munich and in the France team, Dayot Upamecano and Benjamin Pavard, were marked by his misadventure. “ Lucas is an important player, besides, I’m crossing my fingers that it’s nothing serious.”hoped the first. “We were all very impressed. This victory is also for him, he is a warrior, a fighter and a great friend. I think it doesn’t necessarily smell very good. I will be behind him to support him”indicated the second.
Both selected from the list of 25 players selected for this World Cup, Lucas and Théo Hernandez were only the second brothers to represent France in the most prestigious of competitions. The precursors, Jean and Lucien Laurent, took part in the premiere in 1930 in Uruguay. After a transatlantic trip by liner, Lucien Laurent had become the first scorer in the history of the Blues during a World Cup. The Hernandez brothers are also the eleventh sibling to be called up to the France team.
Born in Marseille, raised in Spain, trained in football on the other side of the Pyrenees, the Hernandez have a complicated family history. Their early years were influenced by the professional football career of their father, Jean-François Hernandez. But soon their parents separate and their father disappears from the radar. Until the magazine France-Football found his trace a few days before the start in Qatar. We have known more serene preparation for two young footballers.
“To be in competition with your brother, for a World Cup, it is an incredible pride” Lucas Hernandez
Very close to each other, Lucas and Théo have become one. Before the World Cup, the eldest sent a beautiful message of brotherhood to his younger brother, yet his competitor for the position of left-back. ” To be in competition with your brother, for a World Cup, it’s something huge, an incredible pridehe confided to Agence France-Presse. If it’s up to me to play, I’ll be very happy to be able to participate. But if it’s up to my brother to do it, I’ll be almost even more so. I want to feel that pride of being able to see my brother play in a World Cup. »
While he certainly would have preferred it to happen another way, his wish was granted. And it is now the coach, Didier Deschamps, who must hope that nothing happens to Théo Hernandez, his last left defender. “Theo is here. There will then be other solutions to replace it. But if we wanted to be quiet, we would have to take 33 players and triple the positions. » Maybe not 33, but retaining 26 players instead of 25, why not one more side, could have been useful.