A late thigh injury sidelines Real Madrid man Aurelien Tchouameni, forcing Didier Deschamps to reshuffle his midfield as France battle extreme heat and a resilient Paraguay squad in the World Cup Round of 16.
Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has been dealt an injury blow ahead of France's World Cup Round of 16 clash against Paraguay on Saturday.
Didier Deschamps is set to undergo a selection dilemma in midfield in the last-16 clash versus Paraguay with Aurelien Tchouameni out of the contest. French newspaper L'Equipe confirmed an earlier update by RMC Sport about the 26-year-old's absence from the Les Bleus squad for the knockout fixture against La Albirroja. He has reportedly suffered a thigh injury during a training session.
The French head coach has already shown a tendency to shuffle his starting eleven numerous times during this World Cup, as he has a host of players with different capabilities at his disposal. The left-back position has been rotated between Lucas Digne and Theo Hernandez, while William Saliba returned to the lineup against Sweden in the Round of 32 after being replaced by Crystal Palace center-back Maxence Lacroix in the Norway game.
The two holding midfield positions have been rotated between Tchouameni, Manu Kone and Adrien Rabiot. The pair of Tchouameni and Rabiot started the previous outing, while Kone deputised for the AC Milan man versus Løvene. Meanwhile, the Real Madrid midfielder was rested in the 3-0 victory over Iraq in the Group I clash.
Playing against the 34th ranked team in the world standings could tempt Deschamps to rest some of his key players for potential tougher fixtures with Morocco, Portugal or Spain in the later stages. However, France's coaching department will also consider Paraguay's emphatic performance, which stunned Germany in the Round of 32 knockout. It is no surprise that Deschamps will be looking to manage the game efficiently with his many players to avoid an upset.
Both Deschamps and forward Desire Doue warned of extreme heat forecasted for their Round of 16 match. Speaking to the press (via Reuters) in their pre-match conference, the coach remarked, “I was with (France assistant coach) Guy Stephan at the final and semi-final of the Club World Cup. We were in the stadium. We saw that it was quite hot, and we could discuss. And it did have an impact.
“Now, is this good for the players' health as soon as there are extreme conditions, whether it's heat or cold or a hard pitch? It's not ideal."
“Well, yes, we are wasting a lot of energy,” Doue said. “We are sweating more, wasting more water. We might lose some lucidity on the pitch. We arrived in the U.S. It was hot. Today, it's hotter. And so be it tomorrow."
Tchouameni will certainly be missed by France against Paraguay, however, Deschamps is set to start Kone again in the engine room alongside Rabiot to alleviate any pressure from the South American side's attack.
As for France's goalscoring department, Los Blancos' star man Kylian Mbappe will lead the line and will be followed by Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Doue in a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, Dembele could be rested for fellow Paris Saint-Germain forward Bradley Barcola.
