The presumed favorite at Euro 2024 is France, a finalist during the last two men’s World Cups. But it might have just encountered a massive obstacle on its road to hopefully win these Euros next month.
According to Fabrizio Romano, superstar Kylian Mbappe broke his nose on a header during the late stages of Les Bleus’ 1-0 win over Austria on Monday.
The good news for France is that early tests don’t seem to have ruled out the best player in these Euros for the country’s remaining Group D games. The bad news is that France still has to determine how it will appropriately manage Mbappe’s injury while ensuring that he can be as dynamic as possible. Because, you know, he’s a human being who has to breathe through his nose while also striking the balance of not letting it get hit again.
Mbappe seems to otherwise be OK, but this is not an insignificant development. At all.
Oh, by the way: Mbappe received a weird yellow card for coming back onto the field without every referee’s approval after his nose injury. If he picks up another yellow card before the quarterfinals (should France reach that stage), he will be suspended for the ensuing game.
That is another potentially fraught situation to monitor over the next week or so.
Mbappé received a yellow card for re-entering the match without the 4th official's permission pic.twitter.com/5QTpcJZx4f
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 17, 2024
One of the ways France will apparently try to manage Mbappe’s broken nose is by having him wear a protective mask moving forward. This assertion was implied by Mbappe taking to his Twitter account to jokingly ask for mask ideas, seemingly right after his post-game medical evaluation:
Des idées de masques ?
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) June 17, 2024
If Mbappe is in such a joyful mood, perhaps France will be totally fine! Nonetheless, his health after his nose injury is something the team will have to be extremely careful with to win its first Euros tournament since 2000.
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