Even without the mask, Kylian Mbappe was outclassed by a 16-year-old wonderkid.
Against Spain in the semifinals on Tuesday, Mbappe ditched the vision-restricting facial covering that he had been wearing since breaking his nose in France’s opening match, only to watch Les Bleus fall to a 2-1 loss, as Lamine Yamal became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the European Championship.
Yamal is heading to the Euro 2024 final on Sunday — the day after his 17th birthday — while Mbappe will be on holiday, before joining new team Real Madrid.
“I had the aim of being European champion, I had the aim of having a good Euros — I didn’t do one, nor the other,” Mbappe said.
“It’s disappointing, we have to go on holiday.
“I’ll rest well, I think I need that to come back fresh and have a really good preseason preparation.”
France coach Didier Deschamps had said on Monday that Mbappe would have to wear the mask for “weeks … maybe months”, so there was surprise when he took to the field in Munich without the mask that had so annoyed him.
“I was fed up, I couldn’t see well with it,” Mbappe said.
“I spoke with the doctor to see and he told me to make the decision like a man, and I don’t regret it.”
Euro 2024 had hardly gone to plan for Mbappe and France before Tuesday’s match — no French player had scored from open play, with their three goals coming from a solitary Mbappe penalty and two own goals.
Mbappe had a total of 23 attempts at goal in Germany.
Only Portugal midfielder Deco, with 24 at Euro 2004, had more non-penalty shots without scoring.
The 25-year-old Mbappe had described the mask-wearing experience as “an absolute horror”, and removing it seemed to have an immediate effect, as he set up France’s eighth-minute opener with a pinpoint cross to the back post for Randal Kolo Muani to head into the net.
The France superstar should have scored and sent the match into extra time after being released on the left by Bradley Barcola with four minutes remaining.
Mbappe seemed certain to score — and in front of France’s fans — when he raced into the area and cut inside past Spain defender Dani Vivian, but he blazed his shot uncharacteristically over the bar.
“I think I had to score, or at least hit the target,” he said. “It went over and that’s the harsh reality of football.”
Taking responsibility
Deschamps refused to point the finger at underperforming stars Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann after his team’s loss.
“The responsibility is mine,” Deschamps told reporters when asked about the impact that poor performances at the tournament from both France’s captain and vice-captain have had on the team.
“Against a Spain team of that quality, you need to be at your very best,” he added.
“I am not looking for excuses, but when we began our preparation for the tournament we didn’t have Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot was injured, and (Dayot) Upamecano was not in the best shape.
“We dealt with the most pressing issues and tried to be as clinical as possible despite everything, but the step was maybe a bit too high for us, even though we were lucky enough to open the scoring.
“Spain control the game really well. We were not direct enough, even if we kept pushing until the end,” Deschamps added.
