For supporters of the France national team, Friday has not been a good news day as several players are reportedly experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Any team wants to avoid that leading up to the World Cup final. Suppose any players experience major flu symptoms on Friday. In that case, they are likely to feel less than 100% when the game is played on Sunday, December 18, at 15:00 GMT at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.
France players who missed games and which are other players who developed symptoms
In the semifinal matchup against Croatia earlier in the week, two players who had started most of France’s games in the 2022 World Cup were absent. They are Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot.
Kingsley Coman was the third athlete identified as having experienced comparable symptoms. Didier Deschamps, the head coach of France, reaffirmed that this is the situation and emphasised that they do not want it to spread.
Deschamps said that Coman had a temperature this morning. “We’ve seen a few individuals with flu-like symptoms. We are making an effort to exercise caution to prevent its spread.”
“The athletes’ immune systems have undoubtedly suffered due to their tremendous effort on the field.”
“After the match against England, Dayot Upamecano experienced negative feelings. You are more likely to contact these viruses when you are exhausted. We are taking all essential safety measures.”
🇫🇷🦠 There is a virus 'sweeping' through the France squad: Rabiot, Upamecano, Coman, Konaté & Varane are all affected by it.
The theory is that it was caught from the England squad. Air-conditioning is also being blamed, reports @TeleFootball. pic.twitter.com/ElI7B6kpfi
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) December 16, 2022
L’Equipe announced Friday afternoon that centre-backs Raphael Varane and Ibrahim Konate have flu-like symptoms. Konate and Varane were almost guaranteed to get the game against Argentina underway.
Theo Hernandez missed practice because of a knee issue. In contrast, Aurelien Tchouameni missed it as well because of a hip injury, according to RMC on Friday.
To convince the people and the media during Friday’s press conference that the virus is not a serious issue, Randal Kolo Muani said: “The little flu which is going around, it’s nothing major, and I think they’ll be back for Sunday.”
Why are France’s players getting ill?
A bug of some sort is spreading throughout the camp. During the competition, athletes from other teams have also been sick.
Many believe that the air conditioning in the stadiums and anywhere else the players have been during the tournament may be to blame for this.
Deschamps discussed the camp atmosphere and the air conditioning after the semifinal matchup with Morocco.
“Temperatures have cooled down a bit in Doha, and the air conditioning is always on. Players have worked extremely hard on the field and obviously their immune systems suffer, so we are trying to be cautious that it doesn’t spread,” Deschamps added.
There is little France can do to change the issue aside from isolating the problematic players, which is not ideal for practising for matches.
