There’s terrible news for West Ham star Kurt Zouma and his World Cup hopes despite the defender’s new apology at the weekend.
Zouma has been one of – if not the – best and most consistent performer for West Ham this season.
That in itself is not saying much given the Hammers sit just two points off the bottom three ahead of the World Cup break.
Zouma – who was a starter for France when he signed for West Ham – was well and truly cast aside by his national team boss Didier Deschamps and the federation following his now infamous cat attack saga.
Deschamps criticised the £29m West Ham defender when the revelations broke last season and has omitted him from selection for France ever since.
“I was very surprised by Kurt,” Deschamps said back in February (Sport Bible).
“This is something that is inadmissible, intolerable and cruelty without a name. I’m sure he became aware of it but these images are shocking and unbearable.”
The France manager added: “I’m not a prosecutor. I am here to make selections on different criteria. It could have happened to me when players could have made mistakes not to select them for a while, so I will not change my way of doing things for the next list.”
After his spell in the shadows, there looked to be some light on the horizon for the West Ham ace when an injury to Man United star Raphael Varane looked set to open the door for a possible World Cup call.
And Zouma gave his first interview since the cat incident at the weekend. He once again apologised profusely and admitted he dreams of being recalled by France for Qatar.
But there is terrible news for West Ham star Zouma and his World Cup hopes despite his new apology.
Because against the odds it is now being claimed that Varane will be fit for France at the World Cup.
L’Équipe claim he has made a quicker than anticipated recovery after leaving Man United’s match against Chelsea in floods of tears and punching the corner flag, so convinced was he that his World Cup dreams were over.
If that did not spell the end of Zouma’s World Cup hopes then the projected France squad does.
Get French Football News has given a percentage of the likelihood of players making the squad based on a collection of information from sources close to the French Football Federation and Didier Deschamps.
And West Ham star Zouma does not even make the list to get a percentage.
His Hammers teammate, Alphonse Areola, has been a regular in the France squad since the 2018 World Cup win. But he is only given a 25% per cent chance in the report.
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