November 19, 2022

The brief from today:

France dealt major blow

France received another massive blow to their World Cup title defense earlier today. Following the ruling out of Christopher Nkunku earlier this week, another attacker has been ruled out on the eve of the tournament with star striker, Karim Benzema, suffering a thigh injury in training. Benzema had already been nursing muscle fatigue in the previous month leading up to the World Cup, but he was still able to make the squad for Qatar. Despite his conservative approach thus far, the injury suffered today will rule him out for three weeks resulting in his exclusion from the competition. The 34-year-old had only just returned to the France setup last summer for the Euros, following almost seven years out due to off the field matters, and after missing out on the France victory in Russia four years ago, this was supposed to be his big opportunity on the international stage. France will now have to do without a major presence in their attack considering Benzema’s goals in the past year won him the 2022 Ballon d’or, but then again, the remaining forward line is essentially the same one that fired the country to victory in Russia. France coach, Didier Deschamps, will have to name his replacement by Monday, but despite the disappointment of losing Benzema, the World Cup winning coach said he has “full confidence” in his players to achieve success yet again.

Karim Benzema has unfortunately been ruled out of the World Cup

Infantino gives passionate speech

With the World Cup in Qatar set to kick off tomorrow, FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, gave quite a passionate speech today that resulted in a dramatic press conference. The buildup to the tournament has been fraught with negative publicity revolving around Qatar’s human rights records—specifically the treatment of migrant workers, and the lack of LGBTQ+ rights in the country. Many have criticized the awarding of such a massive competition to the Gulf nation while various social and political issues remain unsolved. Infantino sought to address these issues while he addressed the media today, and his delivery was certainly one that won’t be soon forgotten. In his almost one-hour speech, Infantino touched on the coverage that has led up to the World Cup, taking particular issue with the display by European and Western nations. The FIFA president was quick to point out that he doesn’t need to defend Qatar as “they can defend themselves”, but having said that he moved on to highlight the double standard being shown by critics of the host nation. In a powerful statement Infantino said the following: “We have been taught many lessons from Europeans and the Western world. I am European. For what we have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons. This one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy. I wonder why no-one recognizes the progress made here since 2016.” It was quite a weighty thing for him to utter, but more importantly it was candid and accurate. Host countries are not meant to be perfect, but the particular disdain towards Qatar has been an exception compared to previous places that have held the World Cup; Infantino’s comments today have helped to highlight that ignorance, which is an action that has to be applauded.

Gianni Infantino had some strong words for the public today prior to the World Cup commencing