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Kylian Mbappe, the captain of France men’s national football team, is facing criticism for missing games for the home country while making himself available for his club team Real Madrid. Didier Deschamps, the French head coach, left out Kylian Mbappe from the national squad for their upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Israel and Belgium, citing lack of preparation despite him making his Real Madrid return last week from a muscle injury.
Notably, Kylian Mbappe had suffered the muscle injury last month before playing for the Galacticos in the mid-week UEFA Champions League match against Lille, followed by the La Liga contest on the weekend against Villareal, getting substituted after 71 minutes. But despite that, Didier Deschamps didn’t pick him in the French squad for the upcoming international matches, remarking that he has played too few matches in the early stages of the new season.
Either you're injured, and you don't play with your club and you're not called up in the national team: Maxime Bossis on Kylian Mbappe
While talking to the French sports daily L’Equipe, Maxime Bossis, the former France player, remarked that a player should either be a part of the club and national team or they stay on the shelf. He was quoted as saying, “Either you're injured, and you don't play with your club and you're not called up in the national team. But when you come off the bench in the Champions League and you start a league game, it makes things fuzzy. He's a special player. We've known that with Michel Platini, when we still wanted him with us when he was injured.”
Meanwhile, Fabien Bonnet, the Irresistables Francais spokesperson, the main supporters' group of the French national football team, was quoted as saying about the matter, “As a captain (Kylian Mbappe) must be an example for the fans, and he has not been. What emerges is that the real captain, Antoine Griezmann, is gone.” Without the presence of Kylian Mbappe, France will have to focus on the task at hand, to travel to Bozsik Aréna in Budapest, to play against Israel on October 10 before heading to the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels to take on the hosts Belgium.
