When it was announced that Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano were ill ahead of the semi-final against Morocco, Didier Deschamps made a quick decision to hand Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté a start.
The defender grabbed the chance with both hands, and showed just why the Reds paid all that money for him and why the France manager trusted him.
There has been talk the Liverpool centre-back could even start the final after his display, but the latest news from the national team camp, reported by L’Equipe, isn’t great.
That’s because both Raphaël Varane and Konaté have been ‘affected by the virus’ that is going around the France squad.
Kingsley Coman has also contracted it, and was isolated on Thursday night, but his potential absence wouldn’t be as crucial as that of the two defenders.
It’s explained that ‘light symptoms’ have been observed for the Manchester United man, while they are a ‘little more pronounced’ for the Liverpool star.
This will be monitored closely by the France medical staff, and we’ll have to see if either take part in the next training session, scheduled for today at 5pm.
