With just one day to go before the clash between Netherlands and France, rumors persist about Kylian Mbappe's nose. The Frenchman broke his nose in the match against Austria last Monday, and since then it has been unclear whether the striker will play against the Netherlands or not. After Kylian Mbappe hinted at a return in a message on Instagram yesterday, the official spokesman for the French squad confirmed today that Mbappe will not be satisfied with a place on the bench.
On the Tuesday following the France match, the French Football Federation announced that Mbappé did not need surgery on his nose. But the next day, national team coach Didier Deschamps confirmed that his team captain would undergo surgery after the tournament, and French media assumed that the French player would at least miss the match against the Netherlands.
On the same day, yesterday, the victim posted a photo on Instagram with the text “No risks no wins”, thus appearing to strongly hint that he was ready for a match against the Netherlands. Moreover, he appeared on the training field much earlier than expected and was not wearing a mask, while according to the French Federation, he will finish the tournament wearing a mask.
In short, there is no certainty yet about if, when and how we can expect Kylian Mbappe to participate on Friday evening at 9:00pm in the match against the Netherlands. However, the striker himself seems sure of his case and wants to play “normally” against the Netherlands, a France spokesperson confirmed to NOS. In the final training before the match, which will take place tonight, Mbappe will test his own mask and thus know whether he can play or not.
There is a question mark not only behind Mbappe in the run-up to the Leipzig match. In addition to the captain, Theo Hernandez, William Saliba and Dayo Upamecano also did not participate in France's group training on Wednesday. Hernandez and Saliba were seen training, but Hernandez stuck to cycling and Saliba to running. Upamecano suffers from a muscle injury and did not appear on the field at all.
