Blaise Matuidi
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 yearTTRAILRAIL
BLAISE
Words:Nick BidwellThis summer, Blaise Matuidi
became David Beckham’s first high
profile signing at Inter Miami, after
years of proving his critics wrong
W
hat’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 leftJuventus 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