That’s it, let’s go! The XXII World Cup in history opened this Sunday evening in Doha. A difficult introduction for the host country, beaten as a curtain raiser of its world by Ecuador. An original defeat which should not however spoil the party which is looming here in Qatar where the French team, defending champion, will go to conquer a new coronation in two days against Australia.
The glitch of the day
Last night, Karim Benzema’s package had already weighed down the atmosphere. We feared, for a moment, to see the Blues live a new nightmare today during the training session open to the public. While Raphaël Varane participated, as the day before, in the collective session, it was Eduardo Camavinga who, this time, was missing. More fear than harm for the Real midfielder who was just spared due to groin discomfort.
The package of the day
The France team is not the only one to be weighed down by bad news. Australia, who will face the Blues on Tuesday evening, will also have to do without one of their attacking assets. Martin Boyle, who had also started a race against time to recover from injury, was forced to forfeit the remainder of the competition after failing to recover from a knee injury sustained in late October.
sentence of the day
“It hurts, but our goal does not change. It’s part of the things of football, we must not look behind. “Reputed to be close to Karim Benzema, Ibrahima Konaté did not hide the fact that Karim Benzema’s package was a blow for the Blues. Lying down when the FFF formalized the defection of the Madrid player around 1:30 a.m., the Liverpool defender was touched when he heard the news this Sunday upon waking. But like the rest of the Blues, he intends to stay the course and above all not to review the objective of a new coronation downwards.
The number of the day
24. This is the temperature, in degrees celsius, displayed by the thermometer this Sunday evening at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha when the French team’s training began. A summer temperature for all of the Blues, unaccustomed to evolving in such heat at this time of year. But a falling temperature (and made pleasant by the cool wind) since it is three degrees lower than that of the first session on Qatari soil Thursday evening.