The Latest on France Injuries

I always hold my breath after the club games the weekend before internationals as I wait to see who’s gotten injured. This week is no exception. And the worst part of this weekend is that two of our most important clubs, Arsenal and Barcelona, still have games to play. Arsenal plays Reading today, and Barca is refusing to release Lilian Thuram, Eric Abidal and Thierry Henry until they’ve played in the King’s Cup game tomorrow.

(And there was much gnashing of teeth on the part of Raymond Domenech. Alas, since our first game is a friendly, Barcelona has the rules on its side and is only required to release the players two days in advance.)

So what’s up with our injuries? So far it doesn’t look too bad. Nothing like the list that was giving me heart failure a couple of weeks ago. Obviously we don’t have Gregory Coupet, Julien Escudé, Patrick Vieira or Willy Sagnol, who weren’t even called up. And Jérémy Toulalan and Nicolas Anelka are “very doubtful.” But I think in our hearts we knew that already, right?

Unfortunately Florent Malouda seems to have picked up a knee injury in last week’s Champions League game. He’ll definitely not be playing in the Morocco friendly and is doubtful for Ukraine. Says Florent:

“I will not be playing against Morocco, but the most important match is the second against Ukraine,” said Malouda in L’Equipe. “I keep hoping that I will have recovered. But if we are already qualified (which will happen if Italy win in Scotland), I will not take any risks.”

This injury is unfortunate, but if it’s going to happen at least it’s at a position where I feel we have good potential cover. I think Jérôme Rothen or Hatem Ben Arfa both have excellent potential. My guess is that Ben Arfa will get his first start for Les Bleus on Friday.

Anybody watching the Arsenal or Barcelona games, be sure to keep me informed on how our Bleus are doing. (Please, please, please no more injuries!)