France return to Istra, takes day off

The victorious French side, which defeated Belgium in the first semifinal of the on-going World Cup in Russia, left St. Petersburg immediately after the game for their base camp in Istra, near Moscow.

Coach Didier Deschamps gave the team a one-day off to rest and recover from the gruelling battle, which victory took them to the final of the competition.

According to a source in the French camp, the doctors would examine the entire team to find out if any of the players is nursing an injury, just as the psychologists would try to tune up the players ahead of Sunday’s final.

Sunday’s final is coming up 20 years after France won their only World Cup trophy and 12 years after they lost the 2006 final to Italy.

The team got to the final for the third time thanks to Samuel Umtiti’s header off a corner in the 51st minute.