Euro 2024: France manager hopeful of Mbappe's return in Poland match
Kylian Mbappe had faced a nasal injury during a match against Austria on Monday
France football manager Didier Deschamps said that he was hopeful of captain Kylian Mbappe's return in the final group match against Poland on Tuesday.
Mbappe had faced a nasal injury when he collided with Austrian defender Kevin Danso's shoulder during the match, which his team won 1-0, on Monday.
Following the injury, the captain was a substitute throughout the match between France and the Netherlands at the European Championship (Euro) 2024 on Friday at the Leipzig Stadium in Germany.
"With each day he's getting better and if it had been a decisive game this evening, I would have thought twice about him playing or not," said Deschamps.
"We are getting to a point that is better for him. After what happened, I thought the wiser decision was to keep him on the bench."
The France Federation confirmed that the dribbling master does not need surgery and will be wearing a mask for the rest of the tournament, but his participation in his clash with the Dutch wasn’t confirmed.
Additionally, Mbappe was replaced with Aurélien Tchouaméni as the only change on the French side.
However, Aurelien wasn’t satisfied by their performance on Friday.
"I always try to take the right choice so we have the most balance in the team as possible," added Deschamps.
"The only regret I have is that we weren’t efficient enough. We had five or six chances to score."
Ronald Koeman, the Netherlands manager, said in his news conference Thursday that his team was prepared to face a quality opponent.
"France is such a strong team that even if Mbappe is not playing, the substitute will be a great player as well.”
"Not everything depends on whether Mbappe is there or not. We know that he can be a game changer. He had a big influence on the last two games, two qualification games, but it doesn't depend on us,” Koeman said.
France were held to a 0-0 draw by the Netherlands at Euro 2024. Deschamps-led side and Dutch are level on four points at the top of the group standings, with Austria on three, and Poland have no points therefore cannot advance.
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