A substitute for the friendly loss against Finland, Anthony Martial was rested by Didier Deschamps for the game against Portugal, which he started.
Playing 78 minutes, the Manchester United forward didn’t find the back of the net, but was enough of a presence up top to cause the Portuguese defence some issues and earn some praise from his manager.
With a third game in the international break coming up against Sweden in the UEFA Nations League, there was hope Martial could finally score for his country for the first time since 2016, but that might have to wait.
It all depends on his availability, as RMC Sport journalist Loïc Tanzi reported on Monday the Manchester United man has ‘a few problems with his back’ and would therefore ‘train to one side tonight at the Stade de France’.
Whether or not he misses the game because of this remains to be seen, but it’s certainly not what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have wanted to hear, and the same goes for the Old Trafford faithful.
Anthony Martial a quelques problèmes au dos, il va s’entraîner à part ce soir au Stade de France #EquipeDeFrance
— Loïc Tanzi (@Tanziloic) November 16, 2020
