PARIS (Reuters) – France midfielder Paul Pogba has been left out of their squad for next month’s Nations League matches after testing positive for COVID-19, manager Didier Deschamps said on Thursday.
Rennes midfielder Eduardo Camavinga was called up as a late replacement for Manchester United’s Pogba.
“I had to make a last-minute change to this list because Paul Pogba was planned to be in this list,” Deschamps told reporters.
“But unfortunately for him, he took a test (for COVID-19) yesterday which turned out to be positive today, so at the last minute he was replaced by Eduardo Camavinga.”
France are set to visit Sweden on Sept. 5 and host Croatia three days later.
France squad
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris, Mike Maignan, Steve Mandanda
Defenders: Lucas Digne, Leo Dubois, Lucas Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe, Clement Lenglet, Ferland Mendy, Dayot Upamecano, Raphael Varane
Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga, N’Golo Kante, Steven Nzonzi, Adrien Rabiot, Moussa Sissoko
Forwards: Houssem Aouar, Wissam Ben Yedder, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Jonathan Ikone, Anthony Martial, Kylian Mbappe
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ken Ferris)
