As the clash between France and Belgium in the round of 16 of the Euro looms, Thomas Meunier has “some ideas” to stop Kylian Mbappé.
Belgium is determined to take revenge and erase the mass of painful memories against its French neighbors. The confrontations against the Blues have rarely been favorable to the Red Devils, never even in major competitions. World Cup 1938, Euro 1984, World Cup 1986 and obviously World Cup 2018: France has systematically dominated Belgium.
And if the Blues did not shine during the group stage of the Euro, Belgium was not more inspired. Enough to make Didier Deschamps’ men the favorites of the new duel between neighbors, in the eyes of the Belgians. “On paper, France has more qualities, very clearly. On the Belgian side, three players have a super power: Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Jérémy Doku. The problem is that N’Golo Kanté can perfectly take care of Kevin De Bruyne, there is a Dayot Upamecano-William Saliba pair who athletically has enough response to resist Romelu Lukaku. My gaze turns to Jérémy Doku who will have Jules Koundé in his zone, who is not a trained full-back. We’ll see what happens but France has an advantage and Kylian Mbappé is extraordinary.”analyzed Jonathan Lange, editor-in-chief of the Last hour.
“Kylian is exceptional but…”
However, the Belgians are not making a mountain out of a molehill about the new Madrid native. “I am very, very afraid of Mbappé”quipped Jan Vertonghen while Wout Faes, the former Stade de Reims defender, wanted to be more academic: “We will have to defend as a team. We can’t stop Mbappé alone.” But Thomas Meunier, former teammate of Kylian Mbappé has already thought about the problem.
“I have a few ideas but I don’t want to give everything away in an interview, he said at a press conference.
Kylian is exceptional but the French team is not just Kylian. Griezmann, Dembélé, even Barcola… offensively it’s an armada. And even defensively it’s quite exceptional. It’s a fairly complete group. The key will be mentally: a lot of aggression, no fear of the ball at our feet and I think we can outwit them.”
The Belgian defender, who has not played a single minute since the start of the Euro after being injured in preparation, is impressed by the Blues’ tank. “They remain a very good team, we’re not going to hide that. They have a fairly exceptional talent pool, the sporting wealth is just sublime,” he whispered, taking care to add: “But France finished second, like us, so it wasn’t all perfect. We’ll have every chance, it’ll be a nice 50-50.”
