Didier Deschamps was sweating on the fitness of several key players. Ahead of the World cup final against Argentina, the French team battled a mystery virus.
France sweats on player fitness before World Cup final
Didier Deschamps, the coach for France was sweating on the fitness of several players from his team as they came down with a mysterious virus. French players are staggering from the outbreak with at least five players affected severely. Central defenders Ibrahima Konate and Raphael Varane and winger Kingsley Coman are the latest to be suffering. They also missed their training session on Friday.
Unfortunately, they have a little over a day before facing Argentina at the Lusail Stadium in Doha on Sunday. The illness came two days after Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot were ruled out of the semi-final win over Morocco. The illness is threatening France’s bid for becoming the first to win the Work Cup final back-to-back. The feat was first achieved by Brazil in 1962.
More on the players’ condition
Staff and players close to the French team revealed the range of symptoms affecting the team. It includes conditions such as headache, stomach pain, and fever. Both France captains Hugo Lloris and Deschamps stated they had no additional updates. They took part in a pre-match press conference at about 11:30 am in Doha time.
“I left quite early this morning from the camp — they were all still asleep. I haven’t had any recent updates. We are trying to take as many precautions as possible, adapt as necessary, and get on with it. Obviously, it would be better if this wasn’t happening but we are handling it as well as possible with our medical staff,” stated Deschamps. “We are never really prepared for this type of thing but we are trying to prepare in the best way possible,” added Lloris.