Lucas Digne Ruled Out as Another Injury Hits France

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Southampton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - September 16, 2022 Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard and Lucas Digne celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Southampton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - September 16, 2022 Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard and Lucas Digne celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
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Lucas Digne Ruled Out as Another Injury Hits France

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Southampton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - September 16, 2022 Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard and Lucas Digne celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Southampton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - September 16, 2022 Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard and Lucas Digne celebrate after the match. (Reuters)

A host of injuries have struck France in the leadup to a pair of Nations League matches later this week.

The French football federation on Tuesday added Aston Villa defender Lucas Digne to a long list of injured players ahead of matches against Austria and Denmark.

France coach Didier Deschamps has called up Rennes left-back Adrien Truffert as a replacement for Digne, who has a problem with his right ankle, the federation said.

Digne had been a late addition to the training camp, having joined his teammates on Monday after AC Milan defender Théo Hernandez was withdrawn from the squad because of a torn adductor muscle.

France captain Hugo Lloris has also been ruled out of the games, because of a right thigh injury, and replaced by Nantes goalkeeper Alban Lafont.

France plays Austria on Thursday and travels to Copenhagen three days later to take on Denmark.

Les Bleus face relegation to the second tier of the Nations League. The defending champions are in last place in Group 1 with two points from four games. Denmark leads with nine.

On Saturday, Marseille midfielder Jordan Veretout was called up as a replacement for the injured Boubacar Kamara, the day after Kamara had replaced Adrien Rabiot.

Deschamps also needs to deal with the absence of several other players including Paul Pogba, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté.



Two-time Olympic Taekwondo Champion Jade Jones Launches Boxing Career

FILE - Jade Jones, of Britain, kisses her gold medal in women's 57-kg taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - Jade Jones, of Britain, kisses her gold medal in women's 57-kg taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
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Two-time Olympic Taekwondo Champion Jade Jones Launches Boxing Career

FILE - Jade Jones, of Britain, kisses her gold medal in women's 57-kg taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - Jade Jones, of Britain, kisses her gold medal in women's 57-kg taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Jade Jones, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in taekwondo, is launching a career in boxing.
Jones took gold for Britain in 2012 and 2016 and competed in four Games, most recently in Paris last year.
But, at the age of 31, she has announced her move to boxing.
“The dream is to be a world champion. To be a world champion in two sports would be pretty cool," Jones told the BBC.
She will be trained by Stephen Smith, a former British and Commonwealth featherweight champion, The Associated Press reported.
Jones competed in the 57-kilogram category, which would make her a featherweight in boxing.
She was 19 when she won Britain's first Olympic taekwondo gold at London in 2012. She went on to successfully defend the title in Rio de Janeiro four years later.
Jones couldn't achieve a three-peat in Tokyo and last year she was eliminated in the first round in Paris.
“After 20 years of using my feet I am switching it up,” she said. “Boxing is good for me. It started as a distraction, but now I am going to go for it because I am just loving it.”