France team coach Didier Deschamps revealed this Thursday, November 9, the list of 23 players for the matches against Gibraltar and Greece.
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As is often the case, few surprises in this new list from Didier Deschamps. But a new renowned recruit: Warren Zaire-Emery, indisputable starter with PSG at only 17 years old. The Parisian prodigy will also beat the record for precocity in Blues established by Eduardo Camavinga three years ago. For this November international break, the Blues will play two matches counting for the Euro 2024 qualifiers, even if they are already mathematically qualified thanks to six victories in their first six matches. They will face Gibraltar at the Allianz Arena in Nice on Saturday 18 November, then Greece at the Opap Arena in Athens on Tuesday 21 November.
With the announced withdrawal of Benjamin Pavard (dislocation of the patella of the left knee), many expected the selection of Axel Disasi, central defender of Chelsea. But it was Jean-Clair Todibo, OGC Nice player, who was preferred. A rather logical choice, since Chelsea are in very difficulty in the league this season, only 10th in the Premier League. Jean-Clair Todibo is one of the executives of a Nice team sitting at the top of Ligue 1, still undefeated and which has conceded only 4 goals in 11 league matches. Aurélien Tchouaméni is the only other player out, victim of a fractured metatarsal, but his digital replacement has been found in the person of Warren Zaire-Emery.
Didier Deschamps, interviewed at a press conference, was lodative about Warren Zaire-Emery, and even projected himself with a view to Euro 2024: “He is with us because he has all the qualities to be at a very high level. Even if there is competition for his position, what he is capable of achieving with his club shows great maturity at 17 years old, and a great ability to assume his responsibilities. [ …] As I said last month, it’s a candidate for the next European Championship. I’m not going to go into detail about the use, the game system. It’s a medium full-field player, at his young age, he does a lot of things very well. Since I’ve been coach, I don’t choose to put players on the field based on their date of birth.”
Didier Deschamps revealed the list of 23 players for the next two Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Gibraltar and Greece. As announced several days ago, PSG midfielder and U23 captain Warren Zaire-Emery was called up for the first time by Didier Deschamps.
