After learning on Tuesday June 23 of the death of his mother, Didier Deschamps left the Blues base camp near Boston to go to France and attend her funeral, a trip which will not allow him to be on the bench on Friday for the match against Norway.
“Didier Deschamps will not be able to carry out training before the Norway-France match. He will also not be able to be on the bench on Friday for the last match of Group I. The national coach was saddened this morning to learn of the death of his mother. He will return to France to attend his funeral,” the FFF said in a press release.
In his absence, it was his faithful assistant, Guy Stéphan, who took over until his return to Waltham (Massachusetts). In the afternoon, on the grounds of the Bentley University campus transformed into the Blues training center during the World Cup, a minute of silence was observed in tribute to the coach’s mother.
Tribute from Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé, captain and top scorer of the Blues, presented collective condolences to the coach. “All our thoughts are with our coach and his entire family. You are not alone,” he wrote on a photo where we see players and staff members, including Guy Stéphan, forming a circle while standing arm in arm.
Sports life then resumed. The players who did not start Monday’s match against Iraq (3-0) took part in a two 30-minute opposition between two teams made up of the 14 blue substitutes and some young people from the MLS franchise of the New England Revolution.
In the rain, five starters for the match against the Iraqis (Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Digne, Bradley Barcola, Jules Koundé and Ousmane Dembélé) were content with a light jog around the pitch.
Already qualified for the round of 16 of the World Cup after its victories against Senegal (3-1) and Iraq (3-0), France will try to finish at the top of its group against Erling Haaland’s Norway on Friday (9:00 p.m.) in Foxborough (Massachusetts).
The two selections garnered the maximum number of points (6) with a slight advantage in goal difference for the Blues (+5) against +4 for the Vikings. France therefore only needs a draw to complete the first round in first place in Pool I.
