PARIS, June 19 (dpa/EP) –
Striker Kylian Mbappé considered retiring from the French national team after being criticized for his performances at Euro 2020, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët, acknowledged on Sunday.
The 23-year-old failed to score in any of his four appearances in last year’s competition, with France eliminated by Switzerland in the round of 16. The Paris Saint-Germain striker missed the decisive penalty in the shootout in which the reigning world champions fell to the Swiss after a tie (3-3) after extra time.
Mbappé received much of the criticism at the time, with FFF president Le Graët revealing how much that affected him. “I met him after the Euro. He felt that the federation had not defended him from the criticism he faced after missing the penalty,” Le Graët told Le Journal du Dimanche.
“We met for five minutes in my office. He was angry, he didn’t want to play for the French team anymore. You know how he is; he’s a winner, he was very frustrated, like all of us, about elimination. He’s very media-friendly. He is a great guy, much more collective than people think,” he said.
Mbappe has played nine more times for France since last year’s disappointing Euro performance, helping his country qualify for this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
He has scored 27 goals in 57 appearances for the senior team, which places him 11th among the ‘bleus’ all-time top scorers, a list headed by Thierry Henry (51 goals).