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French team: in Clairefontaine, it is the kickoff of the Euro operation

2021-05-26T20:49:07.191Z


Didier Deschamps' players will be gathered this Wednesday at midday in their usual residence in Yvelines, where they will start.


It will be the image of the day.

That of Karim Benzema climbing the flight of steps at Clairefontaine will cause a hot stroke in the editorial staff, this Wednesday, at midday.

What could be better than a symbol to launch the Euro 2021 of the France team?

Because it is the kickoff of the new campaign of the Blues which will be given at 1 pm with the gathering of the partners of Hugo Lloris in the Yvelines.

Twenty-two players are expected this Wednesday by Didier Deschamps and his staff since it is necessary to remove from the list of twenty-six, the four "English" concerned by the finals of the Europa League (Pogba with Manchester United) and the League champions (Giroud, Kanté and Zouma with Chelsea). The three Blues should not reach the castle until early next week while Pogba is due to arrive on Saturday. Finally, they will not really be twenty-two to climb the stairs since Thomas Lemar, injured with Atlético de Madrid, took advantage of Clairefontaine's facilities this Tuesday to treat his left thigh.

As they have been used to since September 2020, the Blues concerned by this Euro 2021 will integrate a hyper strict health bubble to protect them from any risk of Covid-19 contamination.

During the 20 days of preparation for this European Championship, those selected will only have very limited contact with the outside world.

Thus, the individual interviews with the media which usually took place in Clairefontaine before the major competitions, will be done this year by videoconference.

Preparation in isolation

In order to promote social distancing, the lair des Bleus will only be able to accommodate 60 journalists per day. For the rest, during their travels, the Blues will remain in a form of isolation between the National Football Center, their hotels of residence and the stadiums where their matches will take place. Even if the Federation and the staff of the Blues have not yet decided this thorny question, it is difficult to imagine that the visit of families - as is traditionally done during major tournaments - can take place.

The Blues will therefore live in a vacuum, and to perfect their automatisms, Karim Benzema and his teammates will only have training and two friendly matches against Wales (June 2 in Nice) and Bulgaria (June 8 in St Denis). It is as much as before Euro 2016, but it is one less meeting than before the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. To celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Euro, the organizers of the competition have planned a format with 11 host cities which do not really favor Didier Deschamps' players.

Indeed, the Habs will face Germany in Munich (June 15), then Hungary (June 19) and Portugal (June 23) in Budapest.

Either two opponents (Germany and Hungary) who will play on their land.

But if it appears in a very tough group - surely the most difficult in its entire history in a major event - France has the possibility of qualifying for the final phase even if it finishes in third place in its group. F.

No return to Clairefontaine?

As in 2016, the competition rules provide that the best four thirds will win a ticket for the knockout tournament. This is not really the fate imagined by the staff of the Blues, even less for a team world champion and vice-champion of Europe. In this scheme, France would have to play its round of 16 in Seville (Spain) or Budapest (Hungary), probably against a large European engine.

In case of first place, Lloris and his family would travel to Bucharest (Romania), and to London (England) in case of second place. This round of 16 in the English capital would also be the only scenario where the men of DD would pass through the Clairefontaine box from June 24 to 28. In all the other schemes considered by the staff of the Blues, the latter would leave France on June 14, on the eve of their first match against Germany, with the ambition to find her on July 13 with the trophy of the Euro in his luggage.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2021-05-26

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