Dayot Upamecano has left the French national team camp following a 3–1 UEFA Nations League defeat to Italy.
The French Football Federation confirmed on Friday that the Bayern Munich centre-back departed early for personal reasons. Yahoo Sports reported the news. Upamecano played the full 90 minutes at the San Siro on Thursday. France lost that match to Italy.
The Bayern defender conceded a penalty during the match. This allowed Pio Esposito to score his second goal. The strike stretched the Italian advantage to 3–1, according to Yardbarker. Italy secured its first home victory over Les Bleus in 64 years. The result handed Zinedine Zidane his first loss as national team coach.
Zidane’s squad faced a deep injury crisis in defense and midfield. Inter Milan forward Marcus Thuram was ruled out before the match. Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu was also unavailable. They joined William Saliba, Jules Koundé, Maxence Lacroix, Manu Koné, Ousmane Dembélé, and Esteban Lepaul on the sidelines.
🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Dayot Upamecano has left the France squad due to personal reasons. pic.twitter.com/kUvwkOjWId
Zidane spoke about captain Kylian Mbappé, who was rested against Italy. “I hope he will be ready for Sunday’s match. In any case, this was the plan, that he gets rest today because he suffered a slight discomfort, and then he has the possibility to play on Sunday. This is what we want,” Zidane said.
Upamecano is returning to Munich. Zidane has not called up a replacement for this window. France sits second in Group A1 with 10 points. The team hosts Turkey on Sunday in its final group-stage fixture.
