Thomas Meunier: "You must follow the advice"

For the last month and more, the Paris Saint-Germain players, like the rest of the French population, have been confined at home. An unusual situation that has obliged Thomas Meunier to get used to a new daily routine, all the while staying fit: "I'm doing pretty well in confinement. We're with the children and we have things to keep us busy, I'm not necessarily thinking about football. I'm keeping in shape thanks to the individually tailored programmes sent to us by the coaching staff. It's set up so that one day in two is endurance, then there's strengthening and mobility etc. It's a full programme and it resembles what we do when we're at the  Camp des Loges. I'm missing matches a lot, matches in front of the supporters, the atmosphere and the context. With the teammates, we write to each other from time to time, and we try not to forget we're Paris Saint-Germain players.»

The Belgian international has made the most of confinement to look after his family and find new things to keep him busy: "It's a full-time job and it's harder than football. Three children being at home isn't always easy, especially when they're young. There's no school, no crèche, and that's when you realise that being a nursery school teacher or a teacher is tough, and undoubtedly underestimated. There's the school programme for the bigger children and we do maths and French etc. For the younger children, it's a bit DIY, then there's a siesta in the afternoon that's necessary for the and for the parents. We're lucky to have a small terrace and balconies so we can play a little outside when there's sunshine. We're keeping busy any way we can."

Faced by the crisis, the Paris player wanted to share a message of support to all the hospital staff and also to all those in difficulty at home: "Stay at home! You must follow the advice until May 11, keep calm and if everything's going well then little by little we'll come out of confinement, the crèches and schools will reopen. For the restaurants and bars we'll have to wait a bit longer, but we must do what needs to be done in order to get out out this situation, listen to the advice and listen to what the specialists are telling us to do. People don't always listen. I would like to thank those who have helped the sick get better. Medical staff, the hospitals... to all those who are helping turn things around."