Two ghosts and a new kid. The next gathering of the Blues, in Dijon from February 21, will be marked in particular by the presence of three players in particular: Axel Toupane, Matthias Lessort and Sylvain Francesco. The first two will indeed find the France team on this occasion, while the third will take the pulse of the group, he who had never had the chance to be called up. However, if Francesco remains unknown in France despite an early career that saw him pass through Levallois, Paris and Roanne, the young and small (he measures 1.85 m) 24-year-old French leader is in the process of making a name in Spain, where his Manresa team, fourth behind the big three Real Madrid, Barcelona and Badalone, have been playing spoilsport since the start of the season. Francesco, author in particular of 25 points against Barça recently and who runs at 9.9 points and 3.3 assists in 17 minutes of play on average, is no stranger to it.
With nine of the twelve players of November
And it is only natural that the French coach, who unveiled this Thursday the list of thirteen players selected for the next two qualifying matches for the World Cup, against Portugal (in Dijon on February 24 and Porto on February 27) , at thought of the native of Créteil to make up for the absence of Andrew Albicy, injured. The Boulogne-Levallois coach has also decided to review Axel Toupane and Mathias Lessort. Just back in France, at Paris Basket, the first will find the Blues after two years of absence, knowing that two other Parisians Juhann Begarin and Ismael Kamagate will also be there as training partners. “I’m very happy to be back,” the NBA champion from last season with Milwaukee immediately tweeted. Toupane, Lessort and Francesco aside, Collet recalled the same players as at the last rally (victory against Montenegro and Hungary). And once again, no player from our two teams involved in the Euroleague ASVEL and Monaco has been selected.
13 players have been called up by Vincent Collet for the next qualifying window at the @FIBAWC 2023 and the two games against Portugal ????
Both matches will be broadcast live on @France4tv ????
More info: https://t.co/os0jAOk2S1 #TeamFranceBasket pic.twitter.com/QvOFVzcTaE
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) January 20, 2022
The thirteen players selected by Vincent Collet for the next two qualifying matches for the World Cup, against Portugal on 24 (Dijon) and 27 February (Porto)
Leaders: Sylvain Francisco (Manresa, Spain), Axel Julien (Bourg-en-Bresse), David Michineau (Boulogne-Levallois)
Wing-backs: Isaia Cordinier (Virtus Bologna, Italy), Lahaou Konaté (Boulogne-Levallois), Nicolas Lang (Limoges), Terry Tarpey (Le Mans), Axel Toupane (Paris)
Interiors: Mouhammadou Jaiteh (Virtus Bologna, Italy), Louis Labeyrie (Valencia, Spain), Mathias Lessort (Partizan Belgrade, Serbia), Amath M’Baye (Izmir, Turkey), Amine Noua (Andorra, Spain)
Training partners: Juhann Begarin (Paris), Hugo Benitez (Bourg-en-Bresse), Ismael Kamagate (Paris)
