France staff 'blaming' English players for Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano's illness
As if knocking them out of the World Cup wasn’t enough, the French team want to place the blame on the English players for an illness running through their camp.
French duo Adrien Rabiot and Dayot Upamecano were reportedly sick with colds ahead of their semi-final fixture against Morocco.
The midfielder did not recover in time to make the squad, however, Upamecano was well enough to sit on the bench.
They were replaced by Youssouf Fofana and Ibrahima Konate, with Didier Deschamp’s men seemingly unfazed by the changes, securing a 2-0 win over Morocco.
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However, despite beating them in the quarter-final and ultimately progressing to the final, Les Bleus still aren’t happy with the English camp.
According to beIN Sports, French staff are blaming the England team for the pair of illnesses that came about.
The report claims that Rabiot and Upamecano contracted the cold during the game against the Three Lions, although there is no way to confirm this.
It is not known whether the two French players have instead contracted Covid-19 as there are no requirements to test for the virus during the tournament.
However, La Provence reports that the England camp requested that media wear masks in the mixed zone following Saturday night’s game.
Meanwhile, French outlet L’Equipe is blaming the extravagant air conditioning inside the Qatar stadiums for the illnesses suffered by the two players.
Manchester United winger Antony also pointed fingers at the air conditioning for his illness during the World Cup.
The 22-year-old had appeared on Selecao and Manchester United teammate Casemiro's Twitch stream to discuss his time in Qatar.
Antony explained: "It was a bit difficult. I ended up having a bad feeling there for a few days which complicated me a bit.
"I’m recovering well and getting 100 per cent. It was more of a sickness, throat. It was the air conditioning.
"Not only me, but other players also had a cough and a bad throat. It’s very difficult for me to get sick, but I’m happy to be an important part of the team.”
Again, there is no way to confirm their air conditioning has been making players sick.
Both Rabiot and Upamecano will be hoping to have fully recovered by the weekend so they can line up in the World Cup final in Argentina.
Deschamps will be needing his squad as close to full strength as possible to stop Lionel Messi from bringing home World Cup glory.
Topics: England, France, Football World Cup, Qatar
Jayden Collins