Euro 2024: “All environments have different qualities”, Tchouaméni’s time trial race

Aurélien Tchouaméni, back from injury, hopes to join the starting team. MAXPPP – FILIP SINGER

Tchouaméni has worked hard to come back from injury.

Injured shortly before Euro-2024, Aurélien Tchouaméni fought hard to return during the second match of the French team and applied for the third against Poland, Tuesday (18 & nbsp;hours), within a very competitive sector. It’was "a race against time", says the player, victim of a stress fracture in his left foot in the semi-final of the Champions League, on May 8.

Trust in the medical staff

"When I found out that I was injured after the match against Bayern, automatically I thought about it ;Euro, at the start of the competition", he remembers. But he was quickly reassured. "We had quite a few discussions with the coach, with the medical staff, whether in Madrid or here in the selection, to find out the healing times . But from the start, I was rather confident because some specialists told me that it was going to do it", continues Tchouaméni (32 caps, 3 goals).

Star in the middle since the 2022 World Cup, the ex-Monegasque "had a discussion very quickly with the coach (Didier Deschamps), the main objective was to come back for the second match". But the player trained in Bordeaux "tried to do everything to come back a little bit earlier".

There was also this objective of the Euro, which allowed me to stay alert

He was helped in this by the cell of specialists with whom he surrounded himself, with physical and mental trainers, nutritionist, etc. Tchouaméni first thanks "the medical staff" from the French team, "who helped me recover quickly", but with his cell he"did a lot of work, which allowed me to play the entire match against the Netherlands (0-0). Quite honestly, it wasn't easy after six weeks of stopping playing with that intensity".

Mental work

"And then mentally" this work "was important, because I missed the Champions League final because of this injury, there was a lot of frustration. But thank God, there was also this goal of the Euro, which allowed me to stay alert and do everything to come back as quickly as possible".

Against the Dutch, Tchouaméni felt "well. Obviously, I will continue to gain strength as this competition progresses and help the team as much as possible. His association with the impeccable N’Golo Kanté worked well and could be renewed against Poland. "I’had a lot of pleasure growing up with him", says the Madrilenian. "I think we complement each other on a lot of points. He has this ability to project himself sometimes and sometimes to stay in front of the defense too, which allows us to vary our roles. I hope things continue to go well".

To win, all 25 players must perform at their best level

He says he doesn't fear competition

He assures that he does not fear competition."Why ? Because I want to win this competition. To win, all 25 players must perform at their best level. By having N’Golo at this level, it will definitely help us win matches. Afterwards, there will be choices to make. You know better than me, he (Deschamps) will make them!" "Whether it's Adrien (Rabiot), "N’Gi" ( Kanté), Cama (Eduardo Camavinga), Youssouf (Fofana) , or Warren (Zaire-Emery), all the environments have different qualities, which allows us to have a lot of homogeneity in the middle of the ground. We have what we need, he adds.

Still from a collective point of view, he is not worried about the ineffectiveness of the Blues, who only benefited from a goal against his side against Austria (1-0). Tchouaméni prefers to highlight the "defensive solidity, we have not yet conceded a goal in this competition". In short, after the scare at the beginning of May and the frustration of the missed C1 final, Tchouaméni even responded about his dog, Ocho, a Malinois, to whom he dedicates a TikTok account.

"That’s the best question from the beginning", he replies when asked for news of the animal. "I hope he will be well and that I will see him as soon as possible", after the final on July 14.