Euro 2020: June 11-July 11
Wounded but French still heavily tipped
World champions missing several key men, forcing Deschamps to rejig defensive shape
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France coach Didier Deschamps has to find a solution at left-back against the Swiss. He lost his first choice Lucas Hernandez and his replacement Lucas Digne (above) to injury in their group game with Portugal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BUCHAREST • World champions France are facing mounting injuries ahead of their Euro 2020 last-16 match against Switzerland today, with coach Didier Deschamps struggling for options.
Despite finishing top of their group, Les Bleus qualified for the knockout phase less convincingly than initially expected with just one win in three games.
They also have problems at left-back, after Lucas Hernandez and his replacement Lucas Digne were both taken off during their last group game with Portugal because of injuries.
Both are unlikely to be fit today, forcing potential changes to the team's defensive shape, while forwards Thomas Lemar and Marcus Thuram are fitness doubts after getting hurt in training last week.
Midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who did not make his third Euro start against the Portuguese, has also been dealing with a nagging ankle injury since the end of the season and is not yet at 100 per cent.
The French are already without Ousmane Dembele, with the forward out of the tournament following knee surgery.
But despite the congested nature of their medical room, France remain the clear favourites for the game against the Swiss.
Deschamps, attempting to become the first man to win the World Cup and European Championship both as player (1998, 2000) and coach (2018), may be short-handed but they remain a major threat up front.
They have also never lost to the Swiss in a competitive game and France great Marcel Desailly is convinced the team, on a 19-game unbeaten run, have yet to hit their stride. "France convinced me. They finished first in the group of death. I am satisfied," he told local daily La Provence. "There is everything in this team."
While they are very familiar with the latter stages of a tournament, their opponents have not reached a quarter-final of a major football championship in 67 years, going back to the 1954 World Cup which they hosted.
Switzerland only qualified for the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams, making them clear outsiders today, but Vladimir Petkovic's men are prepared to put 10 men behind the ball and take the game to penalties.
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Didier Deschamps is on course to become the first man to win the World Cup and European Championship both as player (1998, 2000) and coach (2018).
Revealing the team had trained for a sudden-death shootout, Swiss defender Ricardo Rodriguez said: "Anything can happen in a tournament.
"We are fit and ready. We have to be compact in defence and use our few chances. We know the French have a fantastic bench as well.
"We will give it all we have. We have already practised penalties and almost everyone scored."
Today's game will be staged in front of up to 25,000 people at the National Arena in Bucharest, doubling the previously announced attendance.
Uefa added that the additional seats made available have been sold "only to fully vaccinated people", with the winners next playing Spain or Croatia in the quarter-finals.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
