When Zinédine Zidane was injured days before France’s trip to the World Cup in South Korea and Japan in 2002, the national team’s locker room went into despair.
It was justified. The midfielder was then the best player on the planet, the talisman of the team that won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Cup. With Zidane on the field only in the last matchday and without any game condition, the team fell in the group stage.
Two decades later, France will once again defend their title suffering from physical problems. This time, in the plural. In a few days, coach Didier Deschamps lost players with potential to be starters.
The most devastating news came on Saturday (19). Examination detected torsion in the left thigh muscle of this year’s Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema. The 34-year-old forward waited eight years for the chance to play in another World Cup and was cut 72 hours before his debut against Australia, scheduled for next Tuesday (22).
“I am extremely sad for Karim, who had the World Cup as his biggest goal. Despite this news for the French team, I have complete confidence in my group. We will do everything to face this huge challenge that awaits us”, he said. Deschamps, in a statement.
In a message published on his Instagram account, Benzema wrote that he never gave up on anything in life. “But tonight I have to think about the team, as I always have. Reason tells me to give my seat to someone else who can help our squad have a great World Cup.”
However, despite being able to replace an injured player, choosing another from the previous list of 55 names presented to FIFA, the coach decided not to call anyone. France, then, will compete in the World Cup with 25 players.
If Benzema were the only one injured, it would already be a considerable problem for the defending champions. But it’s not the only one. Also due to injury, Deschamps was unable to call up key players for his tactical scheme, such as defensive midfielder N’Golo Kanté and midfielder Paul Pogba. They are two remnants of the winning team in 2018 in Russia.
He also lost striker Christian Nkunku, best player in the last German Championship for RB Leipzig, someone who was seen as a luxury reserve, with the ability to be in the starting line-up at any time. Defender Presnel Kimpembe was an expected cut last week because he was unlikely to be able to prove himself fit enough to play in the tournament. That is what happened.
The coaching staff are waiting to find out whether defender Raphaël Varane, another centerpiece of the four-year-old world champions, will be able to face the Australians. Last month, he was substituted from Manchester United in tears with a calf injury.
“We are not going to take any shortcuts in Varane’s recovery. But I think he will be ready for the first game,” said Deschamps.
Criticized after the elimination in the round of 16 of the Euro Cup against Switzerland (a match in which France won by 3-1), the coach will be one of the most challenged by the absences. He will have to prove his belief that the team is not dependent on any particular player is true.
Likewise, he does not like to set the goal of repeating what happened in 2018 in 2022. He was already doing something similar four years ago when talking about the 1998 world champion squad, of which he was captain.
“I don’t think that’s fair to the athletes.”
His responsibility will not be greater than that of Kylian Mbappé. Best young player of 2018, he now has, without the presence of his big teammates, the mission of being the best of all at 23 years old. Especially because, when France was eliminated by Switzerland in the European tournament, he was the one who missed the decisive penalty.
What was so disturbing about Benzema’s injury is that he was looking for a turnaround story rarely seen in football. Banned from the national team for interfering in a blackmail case against Valbuena, teammate, he was away from the national team for five years. He missed the 2018 Worlds and the chance to be champion. He surprisingly returned in 2021 and arrived in Qatar as the best on the planet.
But, like Zidane 20 years ago, he caused consternation with an injury days away from the World Cup.
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