- Injuries have hit Les Bleus
- A bug is now an issue too
- Could a key man return though?
WHAT HAPPENED? It has been rumoured that the Real Madrid frontman could be in contention to play for France as they meet Argentina on Sunday in the tournament's final game. Consequently, Deschamps has had to fend off a barrage of questions in the media about Benzema making a shock appearance in the squad, even though he is yet to play a single minute in Qatar and is back in Madrid after an injury suffered during a pre-tournament training session.
WHAT THEY SAID: When asked about Benzema's possible involvement or presence in the stadium in a press conference, Deschamps sniped: "Are you spreading the word among foreign journalists? If I don't answer, you'll say I'm p*ssed off. I have players who have been injured before. Karim is one of them. The last to be injured is is Lucas Hernandez. Since then, I have 24 players to manage and you know them. To ask the question vis-a-vis these players, if I may say so, is at least clumsy, if not a little more.
"The group is there. I don't take care of the invitations of players, former players or injured players. I don't know who will be there."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Benzema has been back in training in Spain and even featured in a friendly against Leganes on Friday. However, he seemingly poured cold water on the rumours of a possible return to Qatar, saying: "I'm not interested."
IN TWO PHOTOS:
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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR FRANCE? While Benzema seems unlikely to play, Olivier Giroud (who has four strikes to his name) and Kylian Mbappe (five) will be expected to be the main source of goals for France as they battle it out with Lionel Messi (five) for the Golden Boot, as well as the main prize.