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IBUSUKI (Japan), May 22: Delayed playmaker Zinedine Zidane has joined the France preparing for the defence of their world title in Japan on Wednesday.
The Real Madrid player, who attended the birth of his third son at the weekend, flew in by helicopter to the sea resort of Ibusuki where the French have set up their training camp at a luxury hotel for a week.
Zidane arrived from the airport of nearby city Kagoshima where he had landed after a 17-hour flight from Paris.
The rest of the squad arrived on Monday for a six-day stay before moving to South Korea.
Zidane, welcomed by a few dozen fans dressed in blue shirts, said he was tired after the trip before discretely entering the hotel by a back door.
He is to hold a press conference on Thursday.
Coach Roger Lemerre had on Tuesday expressed his impatience to have his key player with the squad, saying the tournament would not really start for France until he arrived.
Zidane, who did not play in the 2-1 defeat to Belgium at The Stade de France last week, may play into the last warm-up friendly against co-hosts South Korea in Seoul on Sunday.
LISBON: Uncapped midfielder Daniel Kenedy has been dropped from Portugal’s World Cup squad after reportedly failing a drugs test.
A brief statement on Wednesday by the Potuguese Football Federation said its medical team had decided to exclude the 28-year-old Maritimo player, but gave no further details.
State radio RDP said a urine sample taken from Kenedy on May 14 had tested positive for the banned diuretic furosenide.
Kenedy is the second player coach Antonio Oliveira has had to drop from his squad for failing a dope test. First-choice goalkeeper Joaquim “Quim” Silva was suspended in February after testing positive for nandrolone.
Kenedy, who cried when Oliveira drafted him last week as a late replacement to fill a gap in midfield, protested his innocence and said he had taken slimming pills.
Diuretics can be used for slimming, but also to mask other banned substances.
RDP said 19-year-old midfielder Hugo Viana, with four caps, would replace Kenedy.
Viana plays for Portuguese league champions Sporting and is currently with the national squad playing in the European under-21 tournament in Switzerland.—Reuters
