Guwahati: The starting center-back duo for defending champions France may not play in the World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday because of a sickness.
According to ESPN, Raphael Varane exhibits very minor symptoms of the infection, and teammate defender Ibrahima Konate has not left his room since becoming unwell.
Two days prior to the World Cup championship match against Argentina, Varane and Konate were two of five French players who failed to show up for practise. Dayot Upamecano, Adrien Rabiot, and Kingsley Coman did not participate in practise on Friday due to illnesses at the beginning of the week.
France coach Didier Deschamps asserted that the team was taking precautions to stop the sickness from spreading after Upamecano and Rabiot missed the semifinal victory over Morocco due to the infection.
“In Doha, temperatures have fallen a little bit, you have air conditioning which is on all the time. We’ve had a few cases of flu-like symptoms. We are trying to be careful so it doesn’t spread, and players have made great efforts out on the pitch and obviously, their immune systems suffer,” said the coach as quoted by ESPN.
Now that they have healed, Deschamps stated that Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano might play against Argentina on Sunday.
“Dayot will be fit. Since Saturday he wasn’t well for three days … had a fever, and that had an impact on his strength. Given the tough match we had, I decided not to play him and play Konate instead as he’s shown he’s good enough to play at this level. Rabiot was sick, was better this afternoon but not well enough, so he stayed in the hotel. We have four days to rest, so he should be better and available for Sunday,” stated Didier.
After star players like Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, Presnel Kimpembe, Lucas Hernandez, and Christopher Nkunku were forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injuries, this is France’s latest setback.
During a press conference on Friday, Ousmane Dembele stated that the team was not concerned about the illness spreading to other players.
“We’re not scared of that virus. Dayot and Adrien got a bit of a stomach ache; I made them a ginger and honey tea and then they felt better. I hope everyone will be ready for the final. Dayot got better, and I think everyone will be ready. We’ve been taking precautions. The first day, Dayot stayed in his room and we brought him food, and he was back with everyone the next day,” said Dembele.
Les Bleus are seeking to become the first team to successfully defend the World Cup crown since Brazil in 1962.