The players who did not play in France-Belgium worked out on the pitch at the Home Deluxe Arena this Tuesday.
Special envoy to Paderborn
Les Bleus are getting back into their routine. Having qualified for the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, Kylian Mbappé and his teammates returned to their Bad Lippspringe home on Monday evening, after France-Belgium (1-0). They are getting back to their routine and were therefore entitled to a training session in Paderborn on Tuesday. The session was reserved for those who did not play in Düsseldorf, the others having remained at base camp “for a session à la carte, in the room, in the swimming pool, cycling, balneotherapy, physiotherapy, cold bath, sauna, treatments”said the French Football Federation (FFF). No press conference on the menu but the training was nevertheless open in its entirety to journalists.
5:35 p.m., Didier Deschamps, Guy Stéphan and Cyril Moine entered the Home Deluxe Arena pitch, under a grey sky and autumnal temperatures. A session that could have taken place in pouring rain if it had started 20 minutes earlier. The staff was quickly followed by Ibrahima Konaté, Youssouf Fofana, Olivier Giroud and Jonathan Clauss, then the rest of the players who did not play on Monday, Eduardo Camavinga, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Benjamin Pavard, Ousmane Dembélé and Ferland Mendy, as well as the goalkeepers, Alphonse Areola and Brice Samba. After two of the three group matches, the Blues who had played little or not at all were given an opposition against the youngsters of Paderborn. This was not the case this time. Coming on in the 62nd minute and hero of the evening, Randal Kolo Muani stayed warm with the 11 starters, while Kingsley Coman left the group on Monday evening, in order to join his partner in Sweden. The date of his return to Germany has not been communicated.
Damn clumsiness
Warm-up with the ball, runs and toro (a short series of push-ups for the players placed in the centre of the circle if the others reached 20 passes) to start with the outfield players, Stéphan at the controls, Deschamps not far away, while the goalkeepers worked with Franck Raviot in a corner of the pitch. All under the eyes of the president of the FFF Philippe Diallo, present on the pitch after a few interviews. Relaxed but focused atmosphere, no bursts of laughter, no excessive banter. Long game, sprints then crosses and shots, from the right, from the left, in one touch or not, an exercise during which the nets barely trembled, and not only thanks to the talent of Areola and Samba… Clumsiness in front of goal is not only in matches or among the usual starters!
The 12 Blues involved in this day-after session ended with a game on a reduced pitch. Increasingly intense over time, the oranges (Camavinga, Konaté, Dembélé, Clauss, Giroud and Samba in goal) starting strong but the blues (Pavard, Fofana, WZE, Barcola, Mendy and Areola) coming back to level. It was finally the oranges who had the last word, after a magnificent Madjer scored by Clauss. Not used since the start of the competition, «WZE» scored a hat-trick. 25 minutes of effective playing time. And time to go home. 7 p.m., end of session. Note that the selection will travel to Hamburg on Thursday, D-1, with a press conference at 5 p.m. and training at 6 p.m. The program for Wednesday is not yet known.
