It will not be necessary this time to wait 47 years to find two brothers on the same ground with the blue jersey on their shoulders. After brothers Sinibaldi (Paul and Pierre), Revelli (Hervé and Patrick) and Hernandez (Lucas and Theo), the fourth siblings reunited in the France team since the post-war period bears the name of Thuram. Khephren, who will turn 22 on March 26 between Clairefontaine and Dublin, heard his first name come out for the first time from the mouth of Didier Deschamps, this Thursday, on the occasion of the announcement of the list of Blues, the first of the year and since the World Cup. He joins his eldest there, Marcus, 25 years old and 9 selections on the clock. “I’m not going to say it’s easier or harder to deal with, they can be brothers, but it can be two totally different characters, swept the coach. I remain in a sporting logic, it is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. It’s not something negative. Can it be positive? For their dad and mom, it can bring a lot of pride. » It can bring freshness, too, in a group that bears the seal of the Mondial (18 of 23 conscripts were fromadventure in Qatar), but which needs to renew itself and embody the future.
Open doors and a question of the future
Khephren Thuram nDidn’t steal anything, at the heart of a busy season in Nice (2 goals, 7 assists in 36 appearances), where he will celebrate his call-up this Thursday evening with a match against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League Conference. It is a logical step more than a consecration for the second son of Lilian, who passed through the INF Clairefontaine and came to sign a first professional contract with the Aiglons in the summer of 2019 after three years spent with the neighbor, in Monaco. Since then, the midfielder has weighed in more than 100 Ligue 1 matches, where he has established himself as a safe bet, between his technical ease and his volume of play, qualities that have allowed him to be a starter (almost) in power under Christophe Galtier last season, as under the orders of Lucien Favre or Didier Digard during the current exercise. “I dream that they are happysaid the patriarch, former record holder of selections, in The Team in June 2021. I hadn’t projected myself on the fact that they would turn professional. Which seemed almost impossible, even dangerous. I wanted them to do other sports. » The two brothers were overtaken by football and the Blues, as if the name of Thuram was destined to cross the ages.
106 – Since his debut in Ligue 1 on August 17, 2019, Khéphren Thuram has played 106 games in the competition, only Joris Chotard (108 with Montpellier) has done better over the period among players born in the 21st century. Novelty. pic.twitter.com/Ux3LYZs1dc
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) March 16, 2023
The Niçois of course benefits from the repeated absences of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kantewhich now belong more to the past than‘in the present, even if Deschamps ” not afraid » never to see them again put on the tricolor tunic. As usual with DD, the door is not closed for anyone (or almost), starting with Mattéo Guendouzi or Axel Disasi, present in Qatar, but absent this time. On the other hand, it opened up for two other novices: Wesley Fofana (22), back with Chelsea last month after a long injury, and Brice Samba (28), excellent at Lens and preferred to Alban Lafont. The fields : “We are talking about goalkeepers who perform well with their clubs, but who have no international experience with the France team. In two months, that could change too. The criteria remain essentially sporting. » Nothing is fixed, the boss of the Blues, extended until 2026, understood this well when he saw three of his soldiers (Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda and Raphaël Varane), in addition to Karim Benzema, announce their international retirement. “The group, due to the career stoppage of several players, would have been rejuvenated. In my mind, you always have to prepare the way termhe recalled on his favorite stage. It obviously involves seeing players, to have answers for the future. While maintaining competitiveness. » Make way for a new chapter.
Deschamps: we don’t take exactly the same ones and we start again
