Brice Samba, Jean-Clair Todibo and Khéphren Thuram are in the selection of France for the first time. True to tradition, the three debutants had to sing a song as an initiation. Where Samba and Todibo sang a song quite subdued, Thuram stole the show.
The 21-year-old OGC Nice midfielder, son of world champion Lilian Thuram, had to sing a song in a French dining room. He chose to energetically rap a song, which earned him loud applause from his teammates. Khéphren, like his older brother Marcus, has been called up for the European Championship qualifiers against the Netherlands and Ireland. With his first call-up to the France national team, the youngster looks set to reap the rewards of his stormy development in Ligue 1.
Il y avait du level ce soir pour le « bizutage » des 3 nouveaux Bleus ! ???? pic.twitter.com/PG0mXtbvO9
— Equipe de France ?? (@equipedefrance) March 21, 2023
Three months after the lost World Cup final against Argentina, Deschamps has announced a French selection for the first time. It was known from a number of players that they would no longer be part of the selection corps, as they had already indicated after the World Cup that they would stop as an international. Among them include Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Karim Benzema and Raphaël Varane. Partly because of this, Thuram, Samba (RC Lens) and Todibo (OGC Nice) make their debut in the French selection.
Deschamps confirmed on Tuesday that Kylian Mbappé will be the new captain of les Bleus will be, while Griezmann becomes second captain. Le Figaro then reported that Griezmann is not happy with the decision of the national coach to pass him as the new captain. The 32-year-old attacker would, according to L’Equipe even consider quitting the national team, already spoke RMC Sports that news.