“Mr Konaté, can you give this to Mbappé, please? » If the Blues needed to unwind before training, this Saturday evening at Clairfontaine, a kid as tall as three apples took it upon himself to send them a little good humor. Unable to give it to him personally, it was in fact through a hilarious Ibrahima Konaté that the young fan of the captain of the France team tried to send a letter to the Real Madrid striker .
“I would have given it to him, but he’s not here,” the Liverpool defender apologized with a big smile, continuing to sign autographs and take photos with as many of the two hundred supporters as possible who came to attend this final session in France.
Before flying – since the plane was preferred to the train for security reasons – Sunday morning at 10 a.m. towards Belgium, the Blues were treated to a mini-crowd bath during which the name of Bradley Barcola was the most chanted. That of Cap’tain Mbappé, absent from this gathering, was only pronounced at a press conference when Wesley Fofana and Matéo Guendouzi came to the aid of their captain, at the center of the debates due to his escapade in Stockholm.
“Everyone does what they want with their free time,” first assured the Chelsea defender. Kylian does what he wants, he’s a great guy, he manages his career as he wants, he’s a great professional. There is nothing else for me to say. » “This question should not even arise given everything he has done for the France team,” insisted Guendouzi. We have no doubts about Kylian. We spoke to him again on the phone before the match. We got it via messages. He is someone who is attached to us and to the France team. »
Since there is no problem for them on this subject, it is away from all the agitation concerning their captain that the players of the French team, for an hour, revised their ranges before this fourth day of the League of Nations.
After the warm-up jogging and the traditional toro (in two groups), Brice Samba and Alphonse Aréola each composed their team for a small nine-on-nine opposition that the goalkeepers played as field players.
An exercise in which Eduardo Camavinga, Ibrahima Konaté and Ousmane Dembélé did not participate, who followed the first minutes sitting in the central circle before returning to the locker room. No more concern, however, for them than for Mike Maignan and Aurélien Tchouaméni, who are also exempt from training. Due to the lack of a specific session for the goalkeepers, the Milan goalkeeper was spared but his participation in Monday evening’s match against Belgium does not seem any more in question than that of Aurélien Tchouaméni, preserved following the blow received on Thursday evening at the end meeting in Budapest.
No worries either on the side of Loïc Badé and Marcus Thuram, who both participated in the opposition without the slightest sign of embarrassment. The Seville defender, injured in a thigh, underwent an MRI which revealed nothing. As for the Inter Milan striker, the session after the match against Israel showed that his ankle pain was just a bad memory. This bodes well for Didier Deschamps who, four days after the victory against Israel, should be able to make some changes to his starting lineup.
The possible team: Maignan – Kounde, W. Fofana, Saliba, Digne – Cone, Tchouameni (cap.), Guendouzi – Dembele, Thuram, Barcola.
