A hamstring ends Thuram’s week
Marcus Thuram is out of the France squad. The Inter forward felt a tight right hamstring during Sunday’s game against Como, missed Monday’s session at Clairefontaine and was still in the treatment room on Tuesday morning. After examinations, and with Inter and the player in agreement, the Bleus’ medical staff sent him back to his club this afternoon.
Zinedine Zidane did not wait around. Eli Junior Kroupi, the 20-year-old Bournemouth forward, gets the first senior call-up of his career.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Why Kroupi, and why now
Zidane had mentioned him before the list was even announced. Kroupi, who came through at Lorient, sat on the extended list, but the coach held back because he had just lost two to three months to injury. He has made up ground since. He set up a goal in roughly half an hour against Leeds on 31 October, then played a little over 20 minutes at Ipswich on Sunday.
He is not the only new face. Pablo Pagis of Paris FC was already in for the first time, and Saël Kumbedi, who plays in the German second tier with Wolfsburg, came in earlier in the week for the injured Pierre Kalulu.
What comes next
France play Italy on Thursday at San Siro, then Turkey on Sunday in Bordeaux, both in the Nations League. Thuram misses the pair. Whether Kroupi sees the pitch is Zidane’s call, but with the attack down a name, a debut is a real possibility.
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