TRAIL BLAISE
What’s 4,500 miles between friends? France national team coach Didier Deschamps saw no reason to fret on hearing in August that one of his favourite players, 33-year-old midfield warhorse Blaise Matuidi, had left Juventus on a free transfer for a new adventure with David Beckham’s Inter Miami.
Some assumed that Matuidi’s long and distinguished international career – one spanning a decade, 84 caps and a World Cup triumph at Russia 2018 – was automatically over. True, Deschamps did not include the midfielder in his squad to face Sweden and Croatia in the UEFA Nations League in September, but the France boss isn’t ready to put the veteran out to pasture just yet.
Speaking at his press conference after naming his 23-man squad, Deschamps said: “I spoke with Blaise, who called me to update me before it was official. I will not go into the content of our discussions, but he is lucid enough to know that this complicates the situation with the France team. That doesn’t mean he won’t come back. He remains selectable…I do not forget what he did for the France team, but he is lucid to know that there is competition. I’m not going to say it’s over, but we’ll see on a case-by-case basis.”
Although he won’t say it publicly, Deschamps probably wishes that Matuidi had waited one more year for his Atlantic
