France booked a place in the World Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Morocco on Wednesday and are set to play in the biggest game in world sports for the second successive time.
The French have managed to come this far in spite of losing key players such as N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Christopher Nkunku, and Karim Benzema to injury. But they are battling even more odds ahead of their final clash with Argentina on Sunday.
A “Camel Flu” Outbreak
Head coach Didier Deschamps has confirmed that a third team member has taken ill, according to The Times. Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot missed Wednesday’s semi with illness and are both understood to be fighting to be ready for Sunday.
But Kingsley Coman is now struggling and it appears the French are dealing with an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), commonly known as “Camel Flu.”
“Coman also had a fever this morning,” Deschamps said. “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 trying to be careful so that it does not spread and the players have put in a great effort on the pitch and obviously their immune systems suffer.”
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Deschamps, who won the World Cup as a player with France and led them to another as a head coach 20 years later, revealed Upamecano fell ill right after the quarter-final showdown vs. England on Saturday.
“Dayot Upamecano felt bad immediately after the game against England. It happens when you exert yourself so much, your body weakens and you are more prone to getting these viruses,” he explained.
“We’re taking all the necessary precautions, we’re trying to make sure it doesn’t spread, but viruses are of course infectious and we have to take precautions against them.
“We’ll separate him from the others and from Adrien as well.”
France Aiming To Make History
Should they triumph against Lionel Messi and Co. on Sunday, France will become the first team to win consecutive World Cups since Brazil did so in 1958 and 1962.
