The French team ended the friendly series for EURO 2024 with a draw against Canada. In this match, Kylian Mbappe came on as a substitute and did not leave much of an impression.
The support of French fans for Kylian Mbappe is very special. When Les Bleus started to warm up, Mbappe was one of the first to appear and received enthusiastic cheers from the fans in the stands.
Then, when the Real Madrid striker sat on the bench, that passionate atmosphere subsided. Olivier Giroud led the French team onto the field, but the fans in Bordeaux no longer chanted the players’ names.
Since Bordeaux was relegated and no longer plays in Ligue-1, the football atmosphere in this city has cooled down significantly. Fans came to Matmut Atlantique to witness Mbappe, but in the end Didier Deschamps left the team’s brightest star on the bench. That was a huge disappointment.
Facing an opponent who had just lost 0-4 to the Netherlands, France was unable to score a single goal at home. Even in the first half, Canada was the team that held the ball and created more dangerous scoring opportunities. It wasn’t until the beginning of the second half that Les Bleus returned to an overwhelming position. However, the final destination of the ball was not at the right foot of those who know how to score goals.
Mbappe had to rest for most of the early part of the match because of a newly recovered knee injury. In the 74th minute, Deschamps brought Real Madrid’s rookie onto the field. That moment made Les Bleus fans wonder, is their team too dependent on the 25-year-old star?
Before the match with Canada, there was information that Mbappe might be absent from France’s opening match at EURO 2024 against Austria. However, Deschamps immediately reassured public opinion.
“Mbappe suffered a very strong impact in the win over Luxembourg. His knee was bruised. Today, the situation has improved a bit.
In 15 minutes on the field, Mbappe’s performance was generally relatively good. It cannot be denied that when Mbappe is on the field, the French team will be very different. However, we also need conditions to give opportunities to other stars.”
Looking back at the 90 minutes against Canada, we can see that it will be difficult for the French team to play with dominance if they rely on the striker trio of Marcus Thuram – Olivier Giroud – Ousmane Dembele. The breakthrough from these three stars is not enough in the context that Aurelien Tchouameni, N’Golo Kante and Eduardo Camavinga below are not top ball handlers.
A friendly match doesn’t say much, but France’s opponents in EURO 2024, the immediate group stage, can learn how Canada made things difficult for Les Bleus. In fact, the best player of the blue shirt team is William Saliba.
Mbappe is an irreplaceable factor for the French team, this is true, but it will become cruel if for some reason such as injury, the 25-year-old striker cannot play in the next month. Or when it comes to important matches, Mbappe cannot play or play football, does Deschamps have any other options?
“Tonight, we encountered a pretty big obstacle, much more difficult than the match against Luxembourg. This is a warning for the whole team before the opening match at EURO 2024 against Austria.
Today was a day when the French team did not play well, but if you look more broadly, many other big teams at EURO 2024 also had friendly matches before the tournament that did not go well” – Deschamps shared.
