It has been warm for the first-ever winter World Cup, but France is suddenly dealing with a cold ahead of Sunday’s final.
BREAKING: France squad struck down by illness on the eve of World Cup semi-final. pic.twitter.com/eTsLbCkazw
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) December 13, 2022
In Wednesday’s semi-final win over Morocco, defender Dayot Upamecano and midfielder Adrien Rabiot were isolated from the team after dealing with an illness in recent days. But now, winger Kingsley Coman appears to have also caught the bug.
“It’s flu season now, and in that sense, we have to be careful,” he said. “And also, the players have put in a huge shift and their immune system might be a little run down.”
“Coman also had a fever this morning,” the coach told reporters on Thursday. “In Doha, the temperatures have dropped a bit, and you still have air conditioning on all the time. We have had a few cases of flu-like symptoms.”
“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,” Deschamps said.