2023-06-26 08:42:08
“It wouldn’t be developmentally realistic and it wouldn’t be health wise,” said the 19-year-old superstar.
The former Metropolitans 92 player considered this decision “decisive” and “frustrating” at the same time, noting that participating in the World Cup between August 25 and September 10 would have meant a total of “170 matches in 24 months,” including the next season and the Olympics. Paris 2024.
The tall (2.24m) added, “I hope people understand that. (…) France is still important to me. I want to win as many titles as possible with it. But I think it’s a necessary sacrifice.”
And Wimpanyama, who played his first international match with France, European champions 2013, last November against Lithuania, confirmed that Spurs did not pressure him to give up the World Cup.
L’Equipe, which conducted the interview in Texas on the sidelines of his introduction by his new club, added that he made this decision “by himself” after consulting his surroundings, the medical staff who follows him daily, as well as many officials in the national team and his coach, Vincent Collet, who will announce the squad on Wednesday.
France, the bronze holder of the last two World Cups and the silver of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, fell into Group Eight alongside Canada, Lebanon and Latvia in the World Cup hosted by Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The player is widely seen as a once-in-a-generation talent, the most anticipated player since LeBron James, who was the first pick in the 2003 Draft.
© 2023 AFP
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