DOHA: Four years ago in driving rain, Hugo Lloris held aloft the World Cup trophy at the Luzhniki Stadium. On Sunday, he’s hoping to do the same at the Lusail Stadium. The French custodian is standing on the brink of history at the climax of this World Cup in Qatar. Victory against Argentina will make him the first captain to lift the trophy in back-to-back editions of the tournament.

Lloris has been with France for a longer stretch than coach Didier Deschamps. He was captain even before Deschamps took over and galvanised Les Bleus. On Saturday, he spoke about what it means. “I was privileged enough to win it in 2018 but I’m focussing on the present,” the 35-year-old told reporters at a news conference, the anticipation building ahead of the tournament’s climax. “We’re looking forward to writing history, creating our story. We have to be ready for any scenario.”

France’s preparations for the decider have been hit by a cold virus that has spread among its players. Defender Dayot Upamecano and key midfielder Adrien Rabiot were forced out of the semi-final against Morocco. On Friday, their defensive lynchpin Rafael Varane, another central defender Ibrahima Konate and winger Kingsley Coman all missed training. Lloris, though, isn’t willing to let the virus stop him from leading France to the World Cup. “Despite the virus in the camp, we have to finish the job,” he said.

Deschamps, who will become only the second coach since Vittorio Pozzo of Italy to win back-to-back World Cups, said France were doing their best to prevent the spread of the virus. “We’re doing our best to adapt, trying to live with it but without going too far of being carried away but doing what’s necessary,” said Deschamps, as he chases Pozzo’s record which was made at the 1938 edition of the World Cup. “We’re trying to manage the situation as best we can. We’re trying to stay calm. We have tonight and tomorrow.”

If Deschamps has to look at calming down the squad, he needs to look at no one else than Lloris. “He is the captain, the most-capped player for France with the experience of playing in big finals,” Christian Karem­beu, a member of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning squad which was led by Deschamps, said at the FIFA Legends Cup on Thursday. “He has the experience to calm down everyone and has a good temperament to analyse everything. He’s having a great World Cup and was superb in the semi-final against Morocco.”

Lloris lost the first tournament final he played for France. It came on home soil in 2016 at the European Championships where Portugal denied them with a smash-and-grab win. Since then, Lloris and France have won both finals they have competed in; the World Cup in Russia and then the Nations League last year.

France had an injury-plagued buildup to the tournament, losing several key players. The youngsters that were thrown into the deep end obliged. Any doubts that France would suffer from the champions’ curse — that has seen the last four champions from Europe exit at the group stage of the World Cup in their title defence — were swatted aside. The make-up of the team might have changed but the resilience remains.

“I think we’ve already proved that French teams which have been successful have always based that on strong team spirit and we like to draw on that,” said Lloris. “There is always uncertainty over the outcome but the adrenaline and excitement we feel, we will all be fit enough to face this last battle. We started this World Cup with an objective to go as far as possible and we will pull all our stops to win this.”

Deschamps too was not overly concerned with what the final would bring. “We will do all we can to be prepared for Argentina,” he said. “We’ve managed to come this far and we need to keep our focus.”

The France coach also refused to dwell on the meeting between the two sides four years ago in Russia, when France ran out 4-3 winners to advance to the quarter-finals. “There are just seven players in the current Argentina squad who are still here,” said Deschamps. “So you really can’t compare. The lineups are different, game plans are different. I think our experience helps us and we’ve been analysing Argentina’s matches. But they could line up differently [for the final] and so can we.”

Like France, Argentina too are looking to script a perfect ending. It is the last World Cup game for their talisman Lionel Messi, who is looking to become world champion for the first time. Like France, Argen­tina too are looking to win the World Cup for the third time but their last triumph came in 1986. It has been a long wait. “Of course, we know what Messi means in the history of football and a lot of people want him to win it,” said Lloris, “but the match is between Argentina and France and we are hoping for a great game.”

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2022