France captain Kylian Mbappé You won’t be surprised if your broken nose is the target of a tough physical battle with the neighbors. Belgium in the round of 16 of the European Championship to be played on Monday in Düsseldorf, but he is ready to overcome the pain.
Mbappé broke his nose early in the tournament but returned for France’s final match in Group D and scored in a 1-1 draw against Poland wearing a mask he described as “annoying.”
“I think if you play with a broken nose and you haven’t had a nose job yet, you’re a target,” he said at a news conference on Sunday.
“I knew what I was signing up for when I decided I wasn’t going to go home and I wasn’t going to have surgery and I was going to play.
“And maybe I’ll get a little muscular and it might hurt. But I’m ready to give everything I can for this jersey and help France go as far as possible.”
“If this means someone is going to punch my nose, so be it. It’s already broken.”
Mbappé, speaking to the media for the first time since the injury, said he initially feared he would miss the rest of the tournament.
“When I got hit in the face, I didn’t really understand what was happening. I didn’t feel like my nose was broken. It was when I looked at the goalkeeper and saw his face and thought ‘something’s wrong here,'” he said.
“When I returned to the locker room, with everything that was happening around me, I thought I was going home.
“At first it was difficult for me because there was so much information, so many appointments, I didn’t really sleep much. I spent two nights without sleeping.
“And it was really tough to sit on the bench against the Netherlands (during France’s second group game) knowing that you are not able to help. I felt quite helpless. But fortunately I was able to play against Poland.”
Mbappé said, however, that he was struggling to adapt to wearing a mask, having been seen in several training sessions and, in the last match, with at least five different versions.
“It’s actually horrible to play with a mask. I keep changing masks because every time there’s something that bothers me, there’s something that’s not quite right.
“It’s quite difficult to play with a mask on because it limits your field of vision and sweat builds up.
“The first few days I felt like I was wearing 3D glasses. As soon as I can get rid of that mask, I will. But now I have no choice. I can’t play without them. I hate it. It’s really annoying and I’ve changed it more than five times.
“But I’m not making excuses because this is the only way I can play.”
In addition to the physical condition of his star player, French coach Didier Deschamps was also concerned about his team’s goalscoring form during this year’s Euros. The Blues They have not scored from field plays in Germany.
“It’s not about group games anymore. It’s a new competition within a competition,” Deschamps told a news conference on Sunday. “You have to be efficient. To win games, you have to score. You don’t do that by snapping your fingers, you have to move the cursor (closer to the goal).”
Information from Reuters was used in this story.