I’m spoilt for choice, says Didier Deshamps as France prepare to welcome Greece

PARIS – Didier Deschamps received a boost on Sunday, as his first-choice goalkeeper Mike Maignan is available for selection and could start against Greece.

The top two sides in Group B of the Euro 2024 qualifiers meet on Monday at the Stade de France.

Les Bleus put three past Gibraltar without reply on Friday night

to remain perfect after three games while Gus Poyet‘s men, who failed to qualify for the last two European Championships, sunk the Republic of Ireland 2-1 and have six points from two matches.

France are unbeaten in 11 games at home in Euro qualifying since a shock 1-0 defeat by Belarus in 2010 and have yet to concede a goal this campaign.

The presence of AC Milan’s Maignan, who has struggled with a calf injury in the second half of this season and missed months of action, should strengthen Deschamps’ backline.

The France coach said: “All players are available. I’m spoilt for choice.”

The former France captain has also had to deal with the distraction of his captain’s club career.

Kylian Mbappe had dominated the headlines in the build-up to the Gibraltar game after

confirming he would not extend his Paris Saint-Germain contract, which expires in 2024.

That has raised the prospect of PSG selling their superstar in this transfer window, even if the 24-year-old has said he intends to stay with the French champions next season.

Mbappe netted from a penalty in Friday’s 3-0 win – his 12th goal in 12 appearances for France since the start of this season – and Deschamps admitted off-field drama follows the man who became the country’s youngest captain as Hugo Lloris’ replacement.

“Kylian himself is used to it, he always makes the news. Sometimes a little more, sometimes in relation to what is happening especially on the pitch. Sometimes a little off,” noted Deschamps.

Separately, a package of social media tools designed to protect players from online abuse will be offered to all teams at the upcoming Women’s World Cup, Fifa said on Sunday.

The Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), developed by Fifa and the players’ union Fifpro, monitors and moderates hate speech on social media, hiding harmful content from the players.

Several teams in the Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to Aug 20, have agreed to implement the moderation element of the service immediately to automatically limit visibility of online abuse, the world football governing body said.

The tool was offered to players at the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar, where the quarter-final between England and France saw the largest spike in abuse, Fifa said in a report on Sunday.

“Thirty eight per cent of identifiable abuse came from accounts based in Europe, with 36 per cent from South America,” it added.

The SMPS scanned over 20 million posts and comments on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube throughout the men’s tournament in Qatar, with nearly 20,000 social media posts found to be abusive, discriminatory or threatening. REUTERS