The beautiful mask in the French national colors of blue, white and red, with a rooster and the initials K and M – Kylian Mbappé would definitely not wear that in the French team’s second group match against the Netherlands. That much was already clear beforehand. UEFA may have painted everything brightly colored at this European Championship in Germany, but “medical equipment worn on the field must be one color.” Holy UEFA rule number 42.
The French had made everything else surrounding the problematic Mbappé a kind of state secret after their captain and superstar broke his nose in the first match against Austria (1-0). Will he play or not? The FFF association had only announced that a special mask would make it possible to “consider a return to the game after a certain period of treatment”. And Antoine Griezmann, Mbappé’s strike partner and substitute captain, reported on Thursday that “Kylian is doing very well. The swelling in his nose has gone down a bit. We’ll wait until the last possible moment”.
The last possible moment came on Friday evening in Leipzig. Mbappé’s colorful training mask remained in his sports bag, as did his black match mask. Mbappé sat on the substitutes’ bench. And with that, it must be said, this European Championship began all over again for the French.
After the goalless draw without their top striker, the title favourites are coming to a realisation
Goals? There were none for 90 minutes. The end result was 0:0, which meant that both teams had opened the door to the round of 16 quite wide. After this draw, however, France, who are not only self-proclaimed but also logical tournament favorites, will probably realize that it would be good if their masked man could return next Tuesday in Dortmund against the Poles, whose European Championship exit has already been sealed with the draw between the French and the Oranje.
Dutch national coach Ronald Koeman was right in his assessment that it would not change “everything” whether they played against France with or against France without Mbappé plays. Nothing. But for Didier Deschamps it obviously makes a huge difference whether he can align his team in everything they do offensively with the best footballer in the world and the fastest striker in the universe. Or whether a new axis and new processes are needed.
Tchouaméni for Mbappé: Who is supposed to score here?
And so the Selector the Blues then also for a significantly changed statics: instead of having Mbappé flanked by Ousmane Dembélé on the right and Marcus Thuram on the left in the tried and tested 4-3-3 system, Deschamps switched to a rather asymmetrical 4-4-2, with Thuram and Griezmann as rotating target players and Dembélé (more offensive) on the right and Adrien Rabiot (more defensive) on the left wing. Rabiot’s place in the center was taken by Aurélien Tchouaméni from Real Madrid, who had just returned from an injury break due to a stress fracture.
So on paper it was Tchouaméni for Mbappé – on the pitch it was: Who on earth is going to score a goal here?
The fact that the Dutch almost took the lead in the first minute was not due to the French system, but rather to the fact that the French were caught off guard. Leipzig’s Xavi Simons passed the ball to Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong on the right, who had a clear path like on the Champs-Élysées at four in the morning – but goalkeeper Mike Maignan deflected his shot towards the far corner around the post. It was to remain the Dutch’s best chance in the first 45 minutes.
The French lack the certainty of being able to take control of the game at any time
The French had more chances to score, but didn’t do any better. Griezmann, served by Rabiot, stumbled two metres in front of the goal line (14th minute). He also put a long-range shot wide of the goal or into the fists of Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. And the longer this game went on, the clearer it became from the French perspective: Is missing!
Not only were Mbappé’s high-speed sprints and his moments of genius missing – they also lacked the certainty of being able to turn the game in his favor at any time with a single high-speed sprint or moment of genius. There was no lack of sovereignty and control – the French are usually in control under control freak Didier Deschamps. They had won seven of the last eight games against the Dutch, two of them in the European Championship qualifiers. But Mbappé had scored four of their six goals in those two games.
And so the second half continued in a controlled manner, with good opportunities, but without the very last successful climax: Thuram put the ball over the goal (60th minute), Griezmann again failed to get it over the line from close range (65th minute). Instead, Xavi Simons shot it into the French net on the other side (65th minute) – and thereby provoked a video court session that lasted several minutes. The final verdict: no goal, because Denzel Dumfries obstructed goalkeeper Maignan and was offside.
And then they let it all fizzle out, this game that was supposed to be a summit meeting – the first 0:0 ever in this tournament. And you couldn’t help but get the impression that the World Cup finalists had broken more than just a nose.