The French national team bus departed from Dortmund without Arsenal defender William Saliba, who was delayed by anti-doping tests
The French national team bus departed from Dortmund without Arsenal defender William Saliba, who was delayed by anti-doping tests following a match against Poland.
Saliba, a key centre-back who played the full 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw at Signal Iduna Park, was required to provide blood and urine samples after the game.
According to L’Equipe, the French team bus left around 9 pm, while Saliba remained at the stadium until approximately 10:30 pm to complete the tests. He eventually left in a black van, accompanied by members of France’s technical staff, and later rejoined his teammates at their Bad Lippspringe base camp.
France’s head coach Didier Deschamps is now allowing his players to spend time with their families ahead of the knockout stages. The families were expected to reunite with the players on Tuesday evening, making the delay especially frustrating for the 23-year-old defender.
Deschamps commented on the family break: “The family break will really do some good. Spending time with them during this competition is important. And then we will move on to the round of 16. It will be good for morale.”
France finished second in Group D after Austria claimed the top spot. In the match against Poland, Kylian Mbappe put France ahead with a penalty, but Robert Lewandowski equalised with a penalty of his own after a retake was ordered when French goalkeeper Mike Maignan was deemed to have left his line prematurely.
Reflecting on the match, Deschamps said: “I’m not disappointed at all. Of course, we wanted first place but [Lukasz Skorupski] was excellent, he saved them. You have to give credit to the goalkeeper.
“You can score two goals from two chances, but you can also have seven chances, like we did today, and not score. I would be more worried if we didn’t create any chances. We are where we want to be. We were in a very difficult group: Austria lost against us and won against the Netherlands. We deserve to be second, it’s a new competition in the last 16.”
France will face the runners-up from Group E in the last 16. Currently, Belgium, Ukraine, Romania, and Slovakia are all tied on three points after two matches.
