There was (almost) no one missing. This Saturday afternoon, twenty-two of the twenty-three players summoned by Didier Deschamps for the two matches of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, against Gibraltar and Greece, were present on one of the lawns of Clairefontaine for training open to the public. Only Alphonse Aréola, who is due to arrive a little later after playing in Wednesday's Europa League Conference final with West Ham, was absent. Les Bleus took the time to greet the fans, take photographs and sign autographs before starting their session.
For this resumption, the training took place in a good atmosphere. And this, despite the appearance of rain. After a short warm-up, technical exercises with ball - including bulls - the players had the opportunity to compete on half court. A small opposition that gave some (slight) lessons for the next matches. The two teams, in which starters and substitutes have been mixed, have evolved in 4-2-3-1 (or 4-3-3, it depends) with Antoine Griezmann and Christopher Nkunku respectively as playmakers. Due to the forfeit of Ferland Mendy, Eduardo Camavinga was again used on the left side of the defence. The captain of the France team, Kylian Mbappé, has been partnered with Randal Kolo Muani - who has played at the top - and Ousmane Dembélé. Finally, Wesley Fofana, who could have the opportunity to know his first selection has been aligned right axis, in central hinge.
Mbappé marks the spirits
During this small confrontation, Mbappé is the one who has marked the spirits the most with a double, including a magnificent strike in the middle of the window. His teammate Kolo Muani also rattled the net, as did Marcus Thuram and Olivier Giroud (on penalty) in the other team. Kingsley Coman and Christopher Nkunku were particularly stirring while Mike Maignan made several beautiful parries. This bodes well for playoff games.