France aim to continue recent superiority over Dutch at Euro 2024, with or without Kylian Mbappe

LEIPZIG – France captain Kylian Mbappe should be available for their European Championship game against the Netherlands, coach Didier Deschamps said on June 20, the eve of the clash.

The Les Bleus striker went off injured with

a broken nose in their 1-0 opening win over Austria

and will need a protective mask when he does return to action.

Deschamps said: “Everything is going in the right direction after this major shock he had, with the consequences, of course.

“Yesterday, as you could see, he was able to go out and do some activity. That will be the case tonight too.

“So it has evolved in the right direction to ensure that he can be available tomorrow.”

In the Euro qualifying phase, France and the Netherlands were also drawn in the same group. The French came out on top in both meetings, in which Mbappe scored four goals.

The first of the 25-year-old’s 47 international goals also came against the Netherlands back in 2017.

Both Adrien Rabiot and William Saliba had also sounded optimistic about Mbappe’s availability at a press conference on June 19.

“I met him this morning, he was a little better. He had gone to do other tests. I don’t know more. But when I saw him this morning, he was better,” defender Saliba said.

Rabiot highlighted the example of his Juventus teammate Wojciech Szczesny, the Poland goalkeeper who also suffered a broken nose in April.

“I don’t know exactly if it’s the same as Kylian. He had surgery the next day or two days later and he was available for the following match,” the midfielder recalled.

“That’s why when they told me about Kylian’s nose being broken, in my head it wasn’t so serious, because I told myself that he could be available quite quickly.”

But if Mbappe does not make it, Rabiot said France would still be confident of their chances against the Dutch, who won their opening match 2-1 against Poland.

“Of course, he’s a very important player and that will inevitably have an impact, particularly on the preparation of opposing teams, but we have an exceptional group,” he added.

“On the bench, we have more than enough to replace Kylian. I have complete confidence in our quality on the bench.”

For Mbappe, the setback is yet more Euro heartbreak.

Despite his 12 World Cup goals, he has never scored at a Euro Finals tournament, and in 2021, his penalty was saved in the shoot-out with Switzerland which saw France exit at the last-16 stage.

He may still get the chance to put things right in Germany.

But, if he is not ready to play, Deschamps could turn to a man with plenty of tournament experience.

Olivier Giroud replaced Mbappe when the latter suffered the injury, but the 37-year-old AC Milan striker is also struggling with an adductor issue which kept him out of training earlier this week.

This is Giroud’s seventh major tournament with France, and the team’s all-time leading scorer would dearly love to go out on a high having said that this would be his last.

The Netherlands are well aware of the strength of this French squad – with or without Mbappe – but given his record against them, his probable absence would be seen only as a positive.

Ronald Koeman’s side had to come from behind to defeat Poland and were guilty of missing an array of chances.

They will need to be more clinical in front of goal when they get the opportunity against France.

The Poles, meanwhile, are hoping record scorer Robert Lewandowski – who picked up a thigh injury in a warmup friendly against Turkey – will be fit for their clash with Austria on the same day.

The striker was named on the bench against the Dutch, but coach Michal Probierz decided not to risk him as Adam Buksa led the line instead.

“Robert will hopefully play against Austria. He’s a very important player for us,” he said.
REUTERS, AFP