Kylian Mbappe is going through a difficult Euro 2024. That may not stop France from winning the title

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — He has a broken nose, forcing him to wear a vision limiting face maskHe is struggling with fitness issues related to the club’s late season. He has scored just one goal, from a penalty.

THE Europe championship is not going to make plans for Kylian Mbappé and he knows it.

“These are the whims of the footballer,” said the France captain after his latest below-par performance at Euro 2024.

But he is not really interested in that, as long as he lifts the Henri Delaunay Cup in Berlin on July 14.

Mbappé was so tired, so destabilized by a few blows to his protective mask, that he asked to come off at half-time of extra time against Portugal in the quarter-finals in Hamburg on Friday.

It meant giving up a likely penalty in the impending penalty shootout – which France won 5-3 thanks to Joao Felix’s missed spot-kick – but Mbappe simply could not continue.

France coach Didier Deschamps has confirmed that his captain has asked to be replaced, for the good of the team.

“He is always very honest with me and the team. When he feels he doesn’t have the ability to accelerate, you can’t take risks, even a player like Kylian,” Deschamps said.

“With everything that’s happened to him, the problems he’s had, the trauma with his nose, he’s holding up. He’s not in the best shape. He’s been feeling really, really tired.”

Before the Portugal match, Mbappe had acknowledged that he was not in top form and needed a “good pre-season to be 100%”. That will come at Real Madrid, whom he joined after finishing his contract at Paris Saint-Germain.

A broken nose in France’s first group match at Euro 2024 has also destabilized him, limiting some of his play due to his lack of peripheral vision.

Perhaps his best performances so far have come at France’s press conferences, where he has spoken forcefully. urging the French to vote in the early elections, while warning of the dangers of the far right coming to power.

On the pitch, Mbappé is part of the French team that will play a semi-final against Spain on Tuesday after scoring three goals in this competition: two own goals and his penalty against Austria. No French player has yet scored a goal from open play.

Like Greece in 2004, France hopes to reach the final thanks to its defense and structure. But the talent of this French team far exceeds that of Greece 20 years ago.

“In the locker room, we didn’t think that we still hadn’t scored a goal in the match,” said Mbappé, who scored the goal. a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final. “But yes, we will look into the issue (of France’s lack of effectiveness in attack) while maintaining this defensive solidity.

“I only scored one goal,” he added, “but we are in the semi-finals and I am very happy.”

Mbappe also didn’t enjoy watching the penalty shootout from afar.

“It’s worse than shooting,” he said with a laugh.

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Euro 2024 AP: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024