Defending champions France are fighting relegation in the Nations League – and that shortly before the World Cup in Qatar. Coach Didier Deschamps also has other things to deal with.
Didier Deschamps has enough problems these days. Now there is one more. The coach of the French national football team has to play for the two games in the Nations League against Austria (09/22/22) and in Denmark (09/25/22) without captain Hugo Lloris. The goalkeeper of Tottenham Hotspur is out due to a hamstring injury.
Previously, Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), N’Golo Kante (FC Chelsea), Paul Pogba, Adrien Rabiot (both Juventus), Kingsley Coman, Lucas Hernandez (both FC Bayern Munich), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint Germain), Ibrahima Konate (FC Liverpool), Boubacar Kamara and Lucas Digne (both AstonVilla) canceled due to injuries.
No win yet
It is for the defending champions in the Nations League in the two games – believe it or not – against relegation from League A. There, France is bottom of the table in its group after two draws and two defeats.
Pogba and the witch doctor
But Deschamps also has to involuntarily deal with another topic – with an untimely scandal that overshadows the two important games. Because the injured Pogba is at the center of a spectacular criminal trial.
Five men, including his older brother Mathias, are said to have tried to blackmail the 29-year-old for several months. They are said to have even drawn a gun to relieve Pogba of 13 million euros. It is probably about a delicate video with curious and weird content. Pogba is said to have paid a witch doctor. He is said to have been concerned with cursing some opponents but also national team colleague Kylian Mbappé.
Dispute with Mbappé over image rights
Mbappé, on the other hand, has nothing better to do than arguing with the French Football Association over image rights. That’s why he skipped a photo session of the national team. The striker of Paris Saint Germain wants, it is said, to be able to choose for himself which advertising partner he is available for and which not.
Kylian Mbappe (left) and France national coach Didier Deschamps on the training ground.
“Total Loss” and “Fiasco”
Anyone who – like Deschamps – has to deal with such bizarre oddities and other ailments is really not to be envied. The World Cup in Qatar is just around the corner. It starts in just under two months. A relegation from Nations League A would not be very good for the prestige and self-confidence of the world champion. And of course not for Deschamps either.
“general breakdown”a “total loss”is the appearance of the French, was the headline “L’Equipe”, one of the country’s major sports newspapers. No win so far and a meager haul of just three goals: France is worried about the World Cup. The newspaper “Le Parisian” speaks of one “Fiasco”. “L’Equipe“Above all, Deschamps is responsible for this. “Les Bleus” are overwhelmed, powerless and insecure, the tactical concept of the coach “great ambiguity”.
Hardly anyone believes in a World Cup victory
Fans and media would still be able to cope with the descent from the Nations League. Despite last year’s victory, their importance is limited. Much more urgent is the question of the fundamental constitution of the “Team Tricolore” so close to the World Cup. Skepticism has grown among fans, especially after the meager 1-0 defeat against Croatia, the rerun of the 2018 World Cup final. Hardly anyone believes that the team in Qatar can defend the world title.
Now only wins help
Deschamps never tires of reassuring the critics. “Of course I’m not worried”, he says demonstratively. And refers to the increased stress on his player and the injury misery. “I hope that in two months the situation will be much better for all players”, he says with a view to the World Cup. But he can only calm things down with two victories in the Nations League.