It's not going to happen in Qatar. Sadio Mané was initially selected by Aliou Cisse despite a knee injury sustained with Bayern Munich, but he was forced to withdraw from the World Cup, as was made official on Thursday evening. A drama for Senegal…
The fear of withdrawal is also what we can have in France with many injured players. This is the case in particular with Raphael Varane and Karim Benzema as reported by L'Équipe. Both are still recovering from injury and have completed the first training session in Qatar, but away from the group. The two players are still recovering from injury and have been absent from the first training session in Qatar, which raises questions about their presence on the pitch for Les Bleus' first match against Australia.
In Spain, a preparatory game was played yesterday and La Roja also had a good game. It was against Jordan, and the Spaniards won 3 goals to 1 with goals from Fati, Gavi and Williams. But it is especially the first one that caught the attention of Marca. For the newspaper, he is "ready". It is also the Barcelona striker who is featured on the cover of Sport this Friday. "I'm here", the headline reads, and Fati's return to the national team is welcomed. However, on the front page of AS, he has to share the bill with the young Gavi. The two men on the cover, and the three scorers in the match, are both under 21. And they are the 'divine treasure' of this selection... The same is true of the cover of Mundo Deportivo, where the two young Barça stars can be seen. "The 'Golden Boys' of Catalonia and Spain, as the daily newspaper sums up.
Yesterday we were speaking about the contract negotiations that are taking time with Mason Mount. Liverpool is arecurrently monitoring the midfielder's situation at Chelsea. The England international's contract expires in 2024 and the London club are keen to extend it. But negotiations are dragging on and the Reds could take advantage of this, according to reports in the Guardian.
