“National Zizou”
That is the phrase Kylian Mbappe chose. Two words, and it says plenty about the hold Zinedine Zidane has over the France captain’s mind.
The Real Madrid forward spoke to France Football this Friday. It was a long interview. He touched on the Ballon d’Or, PSG and, above all, the France team.
On the new coach, he did not hold back. “Zidane is Zidane. For the French, he means a lot. He is a legend. He is elegance, he is greatness.” And then came a line that says plenty about the dressing room: “None of the players in the France team have known anything else. We can’t wait to see what happens.”
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“It’s not a failure. It’s a shame.”
The semi-final defeat to Spain still hurts. But Mbappe refuses to call it a failure.
“If you’d asked me straight after, I’d have said yes. Now it’s gone, it’s not a failure. It’s a shame. Spain handled the match better, so fair play to them.”
He still breaks down what went wrong. “We got it wrong in the way we approached the start. The penalty is a turning point, because not much had happened before that. When you go 1-0 down against a team that likes to keep the ball, it gets harder. We couldn’t adjust.” France finished just off the podium, even though they were among the favourites.
And then came a line that sounds like a verdict: “We managed to make the French dream. That is a win too.”
Team manager, nanny, psychologist, captain
Mbappe is not pretending. Being France captain is heavy. He says it plainly.
“It is hard just to be captain, so being captain of the France team is very hard.” He laughs as he says it. Then he runs through the roles: “Team manager, nanny, psychologist, captain… You do not have much time for yourself.”
On the pitch, he is flying. Five goals in five matches since the start of the season for Real Madrid. Zidane will make his France debut on the bench on September 25 in Turkey. His squad list is out next Friday. Mbappe, meanwhile, is waiting for Clairefontaine.
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