France Squad Remain Focused Amid Sickness Bug Ahead Of World Cup Final
Didier Deschamps maintains his France squad remain relaxed and focused despite a sickness bug sweeping through the side ahead of their FIFA World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday.
Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot missed Wednesday's quarterfinal victory over Morocco through illness while in recent days the likes of Kingsley Coman, Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate have missed training because of flu.
The defending champions came into the tournament without a number of key players as injuries ruled out N'golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Karim Benzema, Christopher Nkunku and Presnel Kimpembe.
Nonetheless, France will aim to become the only side to defend the World Cup since Brazil in 1962 when they face Lionel Messi and co at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Sunday.
Speaking at a press conference on the eve of the final against Argentina, Deschamps said: "I'm absolutely fine."
"As for the players, I left quite early this morning, they were all still asleep so I have no recent updates.
"We are trying to manage the situation as well as we can, remaining calm and focused. I'll get more information today and think about it today and maybe even tomorrow.
"I don't want to go into details. I know it's a subject that's of interest to you and I fully understand that but we are doing our best to take precautions and adapt as necessary.
"We are trying to live with it without going too far, getting too carried away, just doing what's necessary.
"We'd have preferred not to face this difficulty but we are facing it as best we can with our medical staff."
