Kylian Mbappe and Kingsley Coman miss training as France camp hit by virus ahead of Euro 2024 opener
Kylian Mbappe and Kingsley Coman were absent from France training after a virus struck their Euro 2024 training base.
Both Mbappe and Coman missed training at their Paderborn base on Thursday as Didier Deschamps’ side prepare to begin their tournament on Monday against Austria.
Paris Saint-Germain star, Ousmane Dembele, has also been affected by the bug, but confirmed to the media that he was on the mend.
He said: “For me I am a lot better. I had the flu last week and I was the first one but I feel a lot better now.
“The team is a lot better. Everyone will be okay in a couple of days.”
The French team arrived at their training base on Wednesday and since then a number of players have been hit by the cold.
Multiple outlets claim that while the virus is not serious, Coman spent Thursday alone in his room, while Deschamps also sat out.
This isn’t the first time France have had to deal with a virus at a major tournament, with the last occasion as recent as the 2022 World Cup.
Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate were rumoured to have picked up a bug ahead of their final defeat to Argentina, while three players missed the semi-final against Morocco through illness.
Following their epic 3-3 penalty shoot-out defeat in the final, Deschamps eluded to a problem within the squad.
“The whole squad has been facing a tricky situation for a while now,” he said.
“Maybe that had a physical or psychological impact. But I had no concerns about the players who started the match: they were 100 per cent fit.
“We only had four days since the last match so there was some tiredness, perhaps. That’s not an excuse, we just didn’t have the same energy as in the previous match and that’s why, for the first hour or so, we weren’t in the match.”
But despite falling short in the World Cup in 2022, Deschamps is hopeful that France can complete the job in this summer’s Euros.
He said: “The objective is around the French national team in terms of what we’ve achieved and what we’re capable of achieving.
“There are other nations who start out aiming to win, as is the case in competitions like the Champions League.
“Each year seven or eight teams have the objective to win it, and only one team can. It’s the same here and it doesn’t come down to much.”