France prepares for soccer friendly against Finland
VIDEO SHOWS: FRANCE NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM COACH, DIDIER DESCHAMPS, AND PLAYER, STEVE MANDANDA, GIVING NEWS CONFERENCE AHEAD OF FRIENDLY MATCH AGAINST FINLAND / TEAM TRAINING
SHOWS:
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (FFF - ACCESS ALL)
1. VARIOUS OF FRANCE NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM PLAYERS RUNNING DURING TRAINING
2. VARIOUS OF FRANCE FORWARD, ANTOINE GRIEZMANN, DURING TRAINING
3. VARIOUS OF FRANCE STRIKER, OLIVIER GIROUD, DURING TRAINING
4. VARIOUS OF TEAM RUNNING DURING TRAINING
5. VARIOUS OF FRANCE COACH, DIDIER DESCHAMPS, DURING TRAINING
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 10, 2020) (FFF - ACCESS ALL)
6. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRANCE NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM COACH, DIDIER DESCHAMPS, SAYING:
"Of course, the friendly match that they (Finland) had (against Poland), like us, last month almost did not feature any key players and it didn't go very well, but I still am expecting a team that's maybe not complete with their usual main players, but the fact that they're playing here against France, it remains an important match for them."
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (FFF - ACCESS ALL)
7. PLAYERS RUNNING DURING TRAINING
8. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS TRAINING
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 10, 2020) (FFF - ACCESS ALL)
9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRANCE NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM COACH, DIDIER DESCHAMPS, TALKING ABOUT THE SELECTION OF RIGHT-BACK RUBEN AGUILAR, SAYING:
"I selected him for good reasons because I can't end up with only (defender) Leo Dubois for Wednesday's match, since Benjamin Pavard will not be available - which, by the way, is also the case for five or six other players, who will not participate in training and who I couldn't select for tomorrow, although I'm waiting for confirmation from the medical staff."
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (FFF - ACCESS ALL)
10. VARIOUS OF GOALKEEPER, STEVE MANDANDA, TRAINING
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 10, 2020) (FFF - ACCESS ALL)
11. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRANCE GOALKEEPER, STEVE MANDANDA, SAYING:
"With that, we're also aware that we're lucky to be able to practise our profession today, or to practise our passion simply in a situation that's difficult all over the world. We're living through complicated times, and so it's difficult to complain on that level."
CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (FFF - ACCESS ALL)
12. GIROUD TRAINING
13. DESCHAMPS AND GRIEZMANN
14. TRAINING IN PROGRESS
STORY: France head into their friendly with Finland on Wednesday (November 11) in excellent, form having won ten of their last twelve games in all competitions.
The World Cup winners have named Paris St. Germain striker Kylian Mbappe in their squad, despite his recent hamstring injury.
Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard is another injury doubt after he missed his side's weekend victory over Borussia Dortmund.
Head coach, Didier Deschamps, is likely to name a much-changed side against Finland ahead of his team's competitive Nations League matches against European champions Portugal and Sweden.
(Production: Ardee Napolitano / Francis Maguire)
