France’s roller-coaster ride to Qatar
FRANCE head to Qatar as World Cup holders and with the newly-crowned Ballon d’or winner in their ranks, so all should be rosy for coach Didier Deschamps.
But injuries, recent results and offfield matters have raised doubts about their prospects of becoming the first team to successfully defend the World Cup trophy since Brazil in 1962.
After Didier Deschamps’ team went out of the European Championship on penalties to Switzerland in the last 16 last year and then bounced back to win the Uefa Nations League, there has been little to shout about in 2022 for Les Bleus.
They have won one of their last six games, a run that included two defeats against Denmark, one of their upcoming World Cup opponents.
Of greater concern is that their midfield pillars from the triumphant 2018 campaign in Russia are unavailable.
Chelsea’s N’golo Kante is out with a hamstring injury, and this week it was confirmed that Juventus playmaker Paul Pogba won’t recover from a knee injury in time to feature in the squad that Deschamps will name next week.
“There was still some hope that he would be back. He is such an important player for the team. He will be hugely missed,” captain Hugo Lloris admitted.
Between them they have played 144 times for their country and their absence leaves a hole in midfield.
Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot of Juventus appear the favourites to fill that hole, while Deschamps is hoping injuries elsewhere such as that suffered by centre-back Raphael Varane will clear up in time.
“When you start a competition you need to have confidence in all the players who are called up. Then it’s up to those players to create a synergy
and make us strong as a team,” added Lloris.
Perhaps the absence of Pogba will be a blessing, given that he is embroiled in an alleged extortion plot involving his brother that has led to Mathias Pogba being charged along with four other people.
Pogba said he was being blackmailed for €13 million (about R231.783m) and told investigators his blackmailers wanted to discredit him by claiming he asked a witch doctor to
cast a spell on Kylian Mbappe.
The last French team get-together was also overshadowed by a row between Mbappe and the French Football Federation over image rights.
On top of that, the FFF’S 80-yearold president, Noel Le Graet, has been in the firing line since So Foot magazine published accusations by some former employees of mistreatment during their time at the federation.
“It’s not the calmest atmosphere that I have known,” admitted Deschamps
a few weeks ago.
But his focus is purely on the football, and for all their problems France still have a fearsome side.
Karim Benzema, who will turn 35 the day after the final, is in the form of his life and his presence means France may not need Olivier Giroud even if he has also been performing well for AC Milan. Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Kingsley Coman are all world-class attackers and Christopher Nkunku was the best player in the
Bundesliga last season.then there is Mbappe, who in 2018 became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pele. Now approaching his 24th birthday, the Paris Saint-germain superstar may be relieved to be away from the spotlight of his club for a few weeks after endless speculation about his future.
If Mbappe and Ballon d’or winner Benzema click together, then that is likely to spell trouble for France’s opponents.