LIVE – France-Argentina D-2: staff refutes Covid-19 hypothesis in Blues

The staff of the French team talk about viral syndrome, about influenza, but not about Covid-19. Kingsley Coman, touched, did not take part in the training session on Thursday night, but the staff will want to reassure and believe that he will be operational for the final. Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano, absent against Morocco, took part in the session with their teammates without any barrier movement. No special precautions in their base camps either. The mask is not in demand.

Air conditioning, found almost everywhere in Qatar, has been singled out as the main cause of this wave of cold. Some players or staff have a cold. Nothing ugly that rehashes all those close to the France group, indicating that you only have to look at the smile of Didier Deschamps during training to understand that there is nothing serious.

Théo Hernandez suffered a blow to the knee on Wednesday evening. His situation is being closely monitored, although it is not of concern to staff at the moment. Other players (Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappé) have minor injuries that are not serious.

Fabrice Hawkins with the France team unit

More information here.

This is BFMTV information. Even if the French team wins the World Cup final, there will be no reception at the Elysée on Monday.

After his press conference, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, confirmed that he would not be returning to Paris after Sunday’s final, win or not.

The blues will walk well up the Champs-Élysées, but the president will not be able to welcome them to the palace on Monday. The reception could take place later.

Emmanuel Macron will visit the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle’s troops on Monday and participate as planned in the Baghdad summit in Jordan on Tuesday.

He also confirmed that he wanted to welcome on his flight to Qatar the injured players who could not participate in the World Cup, including Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté.

A joint trip which will depend on the schedule of the players because the president of the republic could leave for Qatar earlier than planned this week to attend a meeting of African heads of state on Saturday.

With Mathieu Coache

A large contingent of FFF employees was invited by president Noël Le Graët to Sunday’s World Cup final against Argentina. Several district and league presidents will also be on the trip.

For the organization of this trip, the FFF entrusted this mission to the group “Couleur”, specialist in this kind of events. The gift to employees includes air travel, local transport and accommodation in Doha in shared apartments.

The employees take off this Saturday at 9.30am to land in Doha seven hours later. They will spend a night there, then a day off on the streets of Qatar’s capital, before heading to the stadium on Sunday (6pm local time). FFF staff are invited to go to the airport after the match as they will be flying back at night (around 03:30) to land in Paris late in the morning. A long journey totally supported by FFF. With a new star in the bag?

Nicolas Pelletier

Argentine fans demonstrated in Doha on Thursday night in front of the members of the Argentine Federation’s hotel to demand the sale of tickets at “an official price” for the World Cup final. This event gathered more than a hundred people in front of the hotel, which is located near the Qatar National Museum.

NP

During the warm-up before the World Cup semi-final between France and Morocco, an attack from Kylian Mbappé hit a French supporter violently in the face. The fan in question, Guillaume, recounted the scene in detail on BFMTV this Thursday. He also wanted to thank the French striker who came to hear from him.

“I have in my hands the missile that hit me head-on. I have been present in Doha since the beginning, I joined the cup of the Irresistibles and I devoted myself to being a drummer. I was already in the atmosphere, I was beating my drum , when the ball hit me and knocked me out. I fell on the supporters in front of me, I was completely stunned. I hardly understood what was happening. I saw after looking at the pictures that he came to me . I was really stunned, stunned. Then I saw the pictures. It was Giroud who told him that there had been something in the stands. It’s a magnificent gesture on his part to have come to see me. I played my part the level of the drum. I have a small call: there is a place on the balloon, it would be nice to have Mbappé’s signature, I hope the message can reach him!”

Asked Thursday on RTL, Sports Minister Amélie Oudea-Castera revealed Emmanuel Macron’s plan to take injured French internationals to Sunday’s World Cup final against Argentina. What if we saw Benzema, Kanté, Nkunku or Pogba in the stands at the Lusail stadium? “I know he wants to, AOC said. I know the plan is under investigation. We’ll see if all of this can land logistically and materially. The president’s desire to get them on board, [pour] that they may fully participate in this adventure.”

Concern for Argentina? Three days before the grand final against France (Sunday 4pm), Lionel Messi was absent from training on Thursday, reports Clarin. According to the Argentine media, the seven-time Ballon d’Or is hit in the hamstring of his left leg, but his participation in the match against the Blues is not in doubt.

More information here.

As he told Sofyan Amrabat, Olivier Giroud was instructed to limit the Moroccan midfielder’s influence as much as possible during the 2022 World Cup semi-final between the Atlas Lions and the French team.

“Girod really followed me all over the middle. I even told him, ‘Stop!’ But he told me he was asked to do this the whole game. He said, ‘I got this mission.’ It was difficult, Amrabat told Dutch outlet NOS More generally, this defeat left a “bitter” taste for the former Feyenoord player, particularly disappointed to have conceded in the 5th minute “a stupid goal”.

>> More info here

As reported by RMC Sport earlier on Thursday, Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot have returned to Les Bleus training. The announcement from the FFF about this closed session confirms the return to full training of the Bayern Munich central defender. The center of Juve ran with Cyril Moine, the physical trainer.

Kingsley Coman, the victim of a “minor viral syndrome”, stayed at the hotel but only “as a precaution”, the FFF states. “His condition does not cause much concern for Sunday’s final,” the association continues.

“Honestly, when you look at both teams’ strengths, it’s 50-50.” Like many supporters, journalists and observers, Jérôme Rothen is struggling to find a favorite for the 2022 World Cup final between France and Argentina, which takes place this Sunday (4pm).

Emmanuel Petit and Mathieu Bodmer, on the other hand, get a little more wet and watch the Blues favourites. Guest of Rothen ignites, the former Argentinian striker Omar Da Fonseca, now a consultant for beIN Sports, goes even further: “You are arch-favourites. In the French team, from an individual point of view, there is not a single player who is not top 5 or top 10 (in his position) They all play in the best European clubs They have experience, maturity, knowledge of the event…”

>> To read here

It is official, the Polish Szymon Marciniak will referee the France-Argentina final, Fifa announces this Thursday. The 41-year-old man in black officiated two matches in this 2022 World Cup: France-Denmark in the group stage (2-1) and Argentina-Australia in the round of 16 (2-1). He handed out five yellow cards over the two meetings (three to the Blues, two to the Argentines).

>> To know everything about one of the key players in the final, it is here

According to the Weszlo media, Polish Szymon Marciniak (41) has been chosen to lead the World Cup final. Nothing is official yet, but the media outlet in question claims to have received confirmation.

Szymon Marciniak refereed two matches in this World Cup: France-Denmark in the group stage (2-1) and Argentina-Australia in the round of 16 (2-1). He handed out five yellow cards over the two matches.

Before that, he most notably refereed in the UEFA Super Cup 2018, which resulted in Atlético de Madrid’s 4-2 victory over Real Madrid after extra time.

More information here.

France should not wear its blue-white-red tricolor outfit for the World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday. According to FIFA, the all-blue kit was chosen.

>>> more details here about Blue’s outfit on Sunday

The news is good regarding Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot, who are back in training with the Blues. Both players were sick, the defender was a substitute for France-Morocco, the midfielder was directly lost. On the other hand, Kingsley Coman is still feverish.

Fabrice Hawkins

According to Argentine media TyC Sports, Angel Di Maria could be established in attack alongside Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez. Absent against Croatia in the half, the 34-year-old winger would numerically replace his Juventus Torino team-mate Leandro Paredes.

According to a document sent to the broadcasters, FIFA will play the French team in its blue home shirt, but not in the tricolor configuration. Instead of developing with white shorts and red socks, Kylian Mbappé and his teammates will be in their all-blue outfit, as against Tunisia.

Opposite, Argentina will also be in their home kit, complete with matching white shorts and socks. The Albiceleste could have worn black shorts, used against Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Australia.

More information here.

In Argentina, the World Cup final in 2022 is scheduled for Sunday (16.00) not only against France, but also and above all against Kylian Mbappé. The press and observers are already in the loop.

>> More information can be read in our article here

To return to the finals twice in a row is a privilege few nations have known. But knowing four finals in just 24 years is unprecedented in the recent history of the World Cup.

There is no press conference this Thursday for the Blues, just training and a recovery program of treatments, messages and balneotherapy.

A cleaning of the training center is planned for the owners at the end of the afternoon. For the substitutes, it will be an invigorating session.