France captain Kylian Mbappe admitted his Euro 2024 was a failure after his team’s exit. France was knocked out of the tournament after suffering a 2-1 loss against Spain at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.
Randal Kolo Muani was able to put Les Bleus in front in the ninth minute with a header after Mbappe provided the assist. However, Spain equalized when 16-year-old Lamine Yamal scored a majestic goal in the 21st minute. After just four minutes, Spain was able to put themselves in front with Dani Olmo scoring in the 25th minute.
Subsequently, France had their chances but they could not grab their opportunities. Mbappe, on the other hand, could only score a solitary goal in the tournament, which came off a penalty.
“My competition? It was difficult,” Mbappé told reporters. “It was a failure. We had the ambition to be European champions; I had the ambition to be European champion. We aren’t that, so it’s a failure.
“It’s football. We have to move on. It’s been a long year. I’m going to go on holiday and get some rest — that’ll do me a lot of good, and I’ll try and come back strongly.”
Meanwhile, Mbappe got off to the worse possible start as he broke his nose in the opening clash against Austria. The forward then had to wear a protective mask, which made things difficult for him.
“Wearing a mask was not easy for him, it restricted his vision and was an inconvenience,” France coach Didier Deschamps explained in a news conference after the loss.
“There was a medical consultation with the staff and Kylian felt more at ease without the mask.”
Furthermore, Antoine Griezmann was also criticized for his performance after he was dropped from the starting XI against Spain. Deschamps took the onus of the defeat on his shoulders.
“I am not going to pass on the responsibility, I am in charge and I am responsible,” Deschamps said when asked about the performances of Mbappé and Griezmann.
“We were facing a Spain side with such quality. Even though Antoine didn’t start, Kylian did and we tried to do our best with what we had. And we tried to be as efficient as possible.
“It was great because we took the lead, but this Spanish side masters the game so well. We didn’t perform so well in the end. We didn’t manage to play as vertically as I would have wished.
“We did push until the end. I will not say that my players did not give their all. But they did not all play at 100% of their capacity in this Euros for several reasons.”
