The day after qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Euro against Belgium (1-0), it was a recovery day for the players who had played on the Düsseldorf pitch the day before.
The eleven starters and Randal Kolo Muani, involved in the winning goal, remained at the base camp for a session à la carte, in the hall, in the swimming pool, cycling, balneotherapy, physiotherapy, cold bath, sauna, treatments were made available to them.
Only twelve players – including the two substitute goalkeepers Brice Samba and Alphonse Areola – took part in today’s session in Paderborn, where a slight clearing appeared after heavy rain fell on the Home Deluxe Arena a few minutes before the start of training. Kingsley Coman, who left the group on Monday evening to join his wife in Sweden who is due to give birth, was also still absent.
A six-on-six opposition
Since the start of the Euro, the substitutes have been accustomed to playing an hour-long match against the youngsters of Paderborn the day after the match. But since the German club had gone on a training camp, they were treated to a more traditional session: passing exercises, a bull before testing their finishing skills on crosses from the right and the left. Here again, the players of the French team shone with their inefficiency in front of goal and experienced a waste equivalent to that seen in matches, with many shots off target or off target.
The session ended with a six-on-six match on a reduced pitch with, on one side, Samba-Clauss-Konaté-Camavinga-Dembélé-Giroud in orange bibs and on the other, Areola-Pavard-Mendy-Fofana-Zaïre-Emery-Barcola without bibs. It was the first team that won, Jonathan Clauss completing his team’s success with a little backheel.
