Two more key France stars fall sick ahead of World Cup final

France are sweating on the availability of Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final against Argentina.

A sickness bug deprived Didier Deschamps of Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano for Wednesday’s semi-final against Morocco, while Kingsley Coman, despite making the bench, was deemed not well enough to play.

Deschamps has taken precautions to try and ensure that the sickness bug, reportedly triggered by the air conditioning units at the team’s hotel, does not sweep through the camp.

L’Equipe, however, claim that influential centre-half Varane and Konate, who deputised for Upamecano against the Atlas Lions, have now been struck down.

Of the two, the Liverpool defender is said to be at greater risk of missing the game with his Manchester United counterpart expected to shrug off illness.

Speaking after the win over Morocco a concerned Deschamps said; ‘In Doha, temperatures have fallen a little bit, you have air conditioning which is on all the time.

‘We’ve had a few cases of flu-like symptoms. We are trying to be careful so it doesn’t spread and players have made great efforts out on the pitch and obviously their immune systems suffer.

‘Dayot Upamecano felt sick immediately after the match [against England]. It happens when you make such an effort, your body is weakened and you are more prone to be infected by these viruses.

‘We are taking all necessary precautions, we are trying to make sure it doesn’t spread but viruses are of course infectious and we have to take precautions against it. We separated him from others and Adrien as well.’

Argentina, meanwhile are fretting on the availability of Lionel Messi who is hoping to end his international career on Sunday in the grand fashion.

Messi did not take part in training with the rest of the Argentina squad on Thursday, but there is nothing to fear with the 35-year-old doing an indoors recovery session with the players who started Tuesday’s semi-final win over Croatia.

According to Argentine newspaper Clarin, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has no injury issues ahead of Sunday’s final and his left hamstring is fine.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Source: Read Full Article