“Out of respect for the coach and the players, to let them go on new bases”, Hugo Lloris bowed out on Monday in the cages of the France team.
36 years old, 145 selections, three international finals including a title of world champion… The goalkeeper from Nice has had a prosperous career in selection, including a last World Cup full of pitfalls.
This final tournament was notably marked by the injury (left thigh) of Karim Benzema 48 hours before the start of the match against Australia.
In an interview with L'Equipe, Hugo Lloris wanted to correct certain rumors spread here and there.
No, the departure in the middle of the night of the Ballon d'Or 2022 was not celebrated by a core of executive players.
“You train in the evening, he gets injured, you go to bed, and the next day when you get up you are told that Karim has left.
Everything happened so quickly… It was presented as a medical package, and we players discovered it in the morning, at a time when something was happening almost every day, ”he says. .
"There are a lot of things that have been said, which are either misleading or ridiculous: the atmosphere was very good before he left, and very good after, and it was very normally amplified thanks to our career and euphoria.
But we would all have preferred that the Ballon d'Or, when we see what he has brought since his return, could be with us.
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“What are we being blamed for?
To have known how to reinvent ourselves?
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Dejected by the medical verdict and the decision of the staff, Karim Benzema had left the hotel of the Blues before sunrise and took a plane towards Madrid.
This departure had allowed Olivier Giroud to become a starter at the forefront of the attack, as in 2018, after a stint on the bench at Euro 2021. “What are we blamed for?
To have been able to reinvent ourselves after his departure?
But we did it after each withdrawal, after each departure, after that of Lucas Hernandez
(after ten minutes against Australia)
as after that of Karim.
We adapted to all the circumstances, and we were strong, ”replied Lloris.
Read alsoRetirement of Hugo Lloris: who to replace him in goal and as captain with the Blues?
The historic captain of the Blues and record holder of selections will therefore give up his gloves by the next rally in March.
And even if Karim Benzema has also announced the end of his international career, there was no question for Lloris that we scratch the atmosphere in the blue group.