It’s the big day for Didier Deschamps: the coach of the Blues is invited to television at 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, May 18 to unveil his list for the Euro (which will be held from June 11 to July 11), already with contours well defined, which will not prevent executives and young wolves from holding their breath before the verdict.
For this forty contenders, the suspense will be lifted in the evening with the intervention of the coach of the world champions live on TF1 and M6, the two tricolor broadcasters of the tournament.
The coach of the Blues will not be able to take everyone to Munich and Budapest, the two destinations of the first round. Its list will include at least 23 players and, at most, 26, in accordance with the largesse granted by UEFA at the end of a very dense season and largely disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
If the media intervention of Didier Deschamps is eagerly awaited, the final list will not be sent until the 1er June, deadline set by UEFA. In the meantime, the ball will continue to spin and the risk of injury will exist. The championships are not over and some internationals could play in the Europa League (Villarreal-Manchester United) and Champions League (Manchester City-Chelsea) finals on May 26 and 29.
For this reason, Deschamps will probably draw up a list of “Substitutes”, or “Reservists”, can be mobilized in the event of a physical problem among the group initially selected.
Reservists
Except injury, the “Hard core”, Dear to the coach of the reigning world champions and vice-champions of Europe will include, around the goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris, the regulars Benjamin Pavard, Raphaël Varane, Lucas Hernandez, N’Golo Kanté, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann .
Will Olivier Giroud be on the trip? At 34, the second top scorer in the history of the Blues (44 goals in 107 games) presents the unique profile of a hardworking center forward, solid in duels, involved in defensive spots, formidable from the head and rarely disappointing under the tricolor tunic.
But the former Montpellier and Arsenal striker has hardly played for long weeks with Chelsea. The Deschamps compass, guided by the “Lived” in selection and club performances, must surely tremble when the identity of the lucky ones chosen on the list goes to bed.
The coach, attentive to the last matches of the weekend, was to bring together his small staff on Tuesday morning for the last arbitrations. The words of his deputy Guy Stéphan, present by his side since their joint adventure at OM (2009-2012), will be particularly important.
“Only choices”
While May’s list should closely resemble March’s, surprises are never ruled out. For the World Cup in Russia, Deschamps had surprised by calling the experienced midfielder Steven Nzonzi and the quasi-novice left-back Lucas Hernandez, at the expense of Adrien Rabiot and Lucas Digne, yet subscribers to the previous lists. Winning choices, a posteriori. “There are only choices, not good or bad. It is the players who make them good or bad ”, he slipped at the beginning of May in an interview with Agence France-Presse, foiling in advance the nets stretched over his head.
In a country populated by “60 million breeders”, to use a famous expression, its decisions will necessarily be commented on. But the second star acquired in Moscow offers peace of mind to the 52-year-old technician, under contract until the 2022 World Cup, who seems little disturbed by the debate around the absence of Karim Benzema, still brilliant at Real Madrid but more convened since 2015.
Among the players present in March, doubts remain about Thomas Lemar and Ferland Mendy, who were recently injured. Just out of the infirmary, Corentin Tolisso and Anthony Martial are back in extremis. Absent from the last list, but summoned for the first round of the Euro Espoirs (the final phase will take place from May 31 to June 6), the Camavinga, Jules Koundé, Wesley Fofana or even Jonathan Ikoné will be in front of their screens at 8 p.m. 20 with the hope of seeing their name appear in a big way.
Because as Deschamps said on March 18, two months ago, he left “All players in the Espoirs category available” by Sylvain Ripoll for the first round but, in May, “The France A team will once again have priority”.