Euro 2024: Didier Deschamps says Kylian Mbappe is eager to play despite mask issues, as France struggle to advance to the knockout stage.

Didier Deschamps, the manager of the French national team, expressed his disappointment as France slipped to second place in Group D with a 1-1 draw against Poland at Euro 2024. Les Bleus had numerous opportunities with 19 shots at goal, but they had to settle for a point after both Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski converted penalties in the second half.

The result allowed Austria to leapfrog Deschamps’ side into first place in Group D after their impressive 3-2 victory over the Netherlands. However, Deschamps remained unfazed by the outcome and insisted that he was not disappointed.

Deschamps stated, “No, not at all. Honestly. Yes, OK, we wanted to try and secure that top spot. We did what we had to do. Who came before me to the press room? The player of the match, Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski. So maybe sometimes we weren’t accurate enough. We faced a goalkeeper who made numerous saves. We were leading, then we conceded the penalty. We gave it everything we had until the very end to achieve our objective.”

The French manager also took a moment to highlight the performance of Austria, saying, “For those who were making fun of Austria, look at them. They’re sitting in that top spot and the Netherlands are sitting in the third position. We’re second. We can tick that first box. We know when we’re playing next. We’re going to be playing on the first of July. We don’t know who the opponent will be yet, and there’s a new competition that’s starting. It’s as simple as that.”

Mbappe made his return to France’s starting XI wearing a protective mask after breaking his nose in a previous match against Austria. Deschamps praised his captain’s performance but revealed some issues with the mask.

“Kylian, despite everything he has gone through, the three days after the blow to his nose, it was complicated. I thought that he was quite good on his feet. He needed to get used to the mask. When he sweats, it stings in his eyes, and he needs to wipe his eyes. But he’s hungry to play, and the game will have done him some good, especially given the one we’re going to be playing.”