The two defeats conceded by the France Espoirs team against Austria and South Korea convinced Thierry Henry of the need to call up more experienced players in 2024. With the Paris Olympics in his sights.
“The result is horrible. » Thierry Henry was not looking for excuses after the correction suffered by the France Espoirs team against South Korea (0-3), Monday evening in a friendly match. A defeat which followed another, conceded three days earlier against Austria (2-0), this time as part of the Euro 2025 qualifiers. A terrible way to end the year for the Bleuets and their new coach, whose state of grace is already over.
“Now we will have to recover, get through the year, and we will be able to start with the under-23 group”, added the 1998 world champion, impatient to be able to field more experienced players to prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games. Because in Paris, next summer, all players under 23, and not just the U21s, will be concerned . Which risks upsetting the beginning of hierarchy that had been established in his group.
Four Blues from Deschamps called up?
According to The Team, several players from the 2001 generation should be called up to the Espoirs during the first meeting of the year, from March 11 to 18. Among them, internationals already called up by Didier Deschamps in A, notably William Saliba, Benoît Badiashile, Adrien Truffert and Khéphren Thuram, but also elements like Joris Chotard, Michael Olise, Manu Koné or Lucas Chevalier, who would compete with Guillaume Restes in goal .
Enough to allow Thierry Henry to erase certain shortcomings observed against the Austrians and Koreans, especially defensively. To further strengthen his squad, the former Monaco coach will then have the opportunity to select three players over the age of 23 to compete in the Olympics. A competition in which certain Blues world champions in 2018, such as Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud, dream of participating…
