The present smiles at the France national teamso radiant and happy in this World Cup while around her other great selections accumulate anxieties and fears. The current world champion looks like a pool of oil and that is news, because it is a team always prone to conflict, even in its best moments. But today, qualified for the round of 16 and virtually first in the grouppeace is breathed before the third game of the group stage, a practically inconsequential duel against Tunisia (Wednesday, 8:00 p.m.).
The streak of injuries seems to be over and Didier Deschamps shelves the matter, ruling out the possibility of calling off Karim Benzema even if he recovers, a plausible option given that he was not replaced by anyone and, therefore, continues to be a player on the France squad for all purposes, including the possibility of being champion. “It’s not something I have in my head. I have 24 players here and I have enough to take care of them”the coach cleared this Tuesday.
One of those 24 players, the most brilliant so far of all of them, is Kylian Mbappe. The PSG striker finished the second day of the championship as provisional top scorer of the tournament, tied with the Ecuadorian Enner Valencia. He was key in the two French victories and that allowed him to take the MVP recognition both afternoons.
FIFA protocol
The players chosen by FIFA as The best players in each match have the obligation to appear at a press conference after the match, like the two coaches. However, Mbappé has not appeared before the media on either of the two occasions, assuming both he and the French federation pay a fine for it.
Why have you made this decision? Since he has not spoken, it is not possible to offer his version, obviously. And with Mbappé it always happens that there are a lot of people around him speaking for him, about what he wants and what he doesn’t want, often in contradictory directions.
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In any case, the version that finds a consensus is that Mbappé does not want to address the media so as not to have to talk about his future and that this distracts the focus from the performance of the French team in the World Cup. We must not forget that the last chapter of the soap opera that is his sports career has to do with his alleged conviction to leave PSG in January, just a few months after signing a pharaonic new contract and rejecting his incorporation to Real Madrid.
“Kylian has no ego. He’s a determining player, a star, but also a team player, he always thinks of the collective. I don’t know if he’ll play against Tunisia. There will be changes, but I’m not going to say how many,” Deschamps commented on Tuesday about a duel in which the Africans are forced to win if they want to have any chance of advancing in the round.