New Delhi: France have crashed out of UEFA Euro 2024 after losing 2-1 to Spain in the semi-final. In the post-match press conference, Mbappe admitted that bowing out of the tournament was a “failure” for him.
The French captain and a World Cup winner was expected to be a talismanic presence and greatly impact France’s chase for the Euro championship. A couple of years back, Mbappe scored a World Cup final hat trick but seemed nothing like the player he usually is and struggled to bring intensity onto the pitch.
His performance in both Euros he has appeared in is a stark contrast to his World Cup stats. As a teenager, he lifted the World Cup in 2018, scoring four times for France’s cause. During the 2022 World Cup, they scored eight more. In comparison, he failed to score a single goal in Euro 2020. He missed a penalty in the shootout against Switzerland as France got knocked out in the round of 16.
In Germany, the 25-year-old opened his Euro goal tally, scoring a through penalty in the 1-1 group stage draw against Poland. With the result not favouring Les Bleus, they missed the top spot in their group stage and faced difficult draws during the knockouts.
Though Mbappe had come into the tournament with confidence, his game was affected by his nose injury during the final moments of their opening game against Austria. The French striker missed France’s 0-0 draw against Netherlands. Mbappe returned to the field for France’s group game wearing a mask.
The former PSG striker had trouble wearing the mask, as he kept readjusting it in all three games he played with it. Against Spain, he stepped onto the field and abandoned the mask altogether. Obviously, the mask affected his style of play and blocked his peripheral vision.
When asked about the injury and its effect on him, Mbappe replied that it played a major role in his dismal performance, ultimately affecting the team’s overall performance. He admitted that since he had a medical compulsion to wear the mask had majorly affected his vision.
Mbappe, though, had nine shots on target in the tournament and managed to create just three chances, including his assist in Randal Kolo Muani’s opening goal against Spain. Lamine Yamal scored the leveller for La Roja in the 21st minute before Dani Olmo doubled the effort in the 25th minute. France were close to catching Spain’s goal efforts, including a late chance from Mbappe when he cut inside from the left flank with just goalkeeper Unai Simons to beat. However, he missed the shot and blasted over the bar. Les Bleus were just not able to score!
Even his teammate Adrien Rabiot had noted that Mbappe wasn’t in the best form ahead of their clash against Spain, though the team was there to support him. However, he also noted that if Mbappe had been in form, the team would have been under much less pressure.
As France crash out of the tournament, Mbappe’s performance comes under scrutiny. Was the striker’s injury a key factor in France’s poor performance in the tournament? Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
