HAMBURG: Kylian Mbappe leads France into today’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Portugal having yet to find his best form at the tournament after months of speculation about his club future and then the broken nose which overshadowed his team’s opening game.
The 25-year-old will again sport a protective face mask, a necessity following the injury he suffered in the 1-0 win against Austria on June 17.
Mbappe admitted prior to Monday’s last-16 victory against Belgium that he hates having to wear the mask and that it makes him feel like he is watching the tournament with virtual reality goggles on, rather than being an active participant.
Yet he is the leader of a France team that have reached the quarter-finals despite scoring only three goals in four matches, one his penalty in a 1-1 draw with Poland and the other two coming from own goals.
He and his team have had chances, but have not been taking them.
It is a source of frustration for Mbappe that he has lit up the last two World Cups but has not enjoyed the same success at the Euros. He starred as France became world champions in Russia in 2018 and again in Qatar in 2022, when he netted a hattrick in their final defeat against Argentina.
The new Real Madrid signing has 12 World Cup goals, but his penalty against Poland is his only goal in seven appearances at the Euros. Three years ago he failed to find the net before missing the crucial penalty in the shootout defeat by Switzerland in the last 16.
“My Euros didn’t start like I wanted but I am here to help the team and I really want to have success with this team,” Mbappe said just before the 1-0 victory against Belgium. “The Euros is the only thing I have not won with the national team so I really want to win it.”
France assistant coach Guy Stephan said Mbappe had been “traumatised” by the collision with Austria’s Kevin Danso which left him with the broken nose.
The fact that his final season at Paris St Germain was often difficult may not have helped either. He scored 44 goals, but Mbappe was also frozen out of the squad at the start of the campaign after telling the club he did not plan to extend his contract beyond this year.
Yet France will hope Mbappe finds extra motivation against Portugal as he comes up against his boyhood hero Ronaldo.
He idolised the Portuguese star growing up, and decorated his bedroom with his posters. There is a famous picture of Ronaldo with his arm around the youngster, who only comes up to his hero’s shoulder.
Now Mbappe is about to become the star in Madrid, where five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was the main man for almost a decade.
But first, he will need to knock out Portugal, and potentially bring an end to Ronaldo’s remarkable international career. — AFP
