The “illness” affecting Les Bleus | OneFootball

As if injury was not bad enough Les Bleus have been hit with a bug that has already sidelined Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano. Though the French team has not made an official statement on what the illness is, there seems to be some sort of flu-like bug that is going around in the vicinity of the World Cup.

Before the semifinal Didier Deschamps spoke about the players who feel ill stating, “Dayot was there, available, not completely 100%, and that’s why he didn’t start the game. He had three complicated days even though he was able to make some effort. He was feverish, with an impact on the muscles in relation to the demands of the evening.”

Early on there were concerns the hotel where the French players were staying was the source of the issue. However, this does not seem to be the case. The “bug” seems more widespread, but the coach and staff have assured they are prepared and taking more precautions as you would expect post-Covid. The coach explained, “We are a little more sensitive to everything that can be viral… The temperatures have dropped rather, there is air conditioning on full blast. There are feverish states. We are all careful. We are taking precautions, we are adapting. Everything that is viral is transmissible. We have taken precautions so that there is no contact, with Dayot, and for Adrien the same. ”

Though Theo Hernandez stated that there was little change in Les Bleus handling of the situation, Aurélien Tchouaméni confirmed the extra precautions. “We are more careful, there is more hydroalcoholic gel on the tables, we hope that everyone will stay healthy for the next match because it’s a final and we want to have all our forces present.“

As we now know Les Bleus made it through the semifinals without the assistance of the ill players who will most likely be available for the final Sunday. Deschamps stated, “He (Adrien Rabiot) was ill a little later. He was better by lunchtime, but not enough, so he stayed at the hotel so as not to take any risks. He should logically be available for Sunday.”

The Les Bleus staff has been vague about the exact nature of the illness, but have reiterated that it was “not that serious” and referred to it as a “cold snap.” It is worth noting that Kingsley Coman is now the third player affected. “Serious” or not, France is already dealing with a long list of injuries. If this “cold snap” can keep one of France’s key players out of the final it is a huge concern. There was no report of any Argentinian players affected.