Victim of a broken nose on June 17 against Austria, Kylian Mbappé confided the difficulties of playing with his mask, which he has changed several times in recent days. He gave news on the eve of the round of 16 of Euro 2024 France-Belgium.
“At the time, I didn’t think much of anything.” Kylian Mbappé, who suffered a broken nose against Austria after a duel with Kevin Danso, didn’t immediately realize that his nose was broken. “It was when I saw the head of the opposing goalkeeper that I told myself that something was wrong. I told myself that I was going to go home. I saw myself in the mirror, I think it was a bad idea,” he admitted with a smile at a press conference this Sunday, on the eve of the Euro round of 16 against Belgium.
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“It’s annoying”
Authorized to resume training a few days later, Mbappé tested several masks. But the Real Madrid striker does not hide the difficulties this entails. “Playing with a mask is absolute horror. I changed my mask because every time, something went wrong. It’s complicated because it limits vision, the sweat remains blocked. It you have to remove it for it to flow. I had the impression that I was in 3D and that I was invited to the Euro as a VIP. I could see the people but I had the impression that it was not. not me who was playing. As soon as I could take it off, I will do it. I have to say thank you to the masks”, he qualified.
Will his broken nose force Mbappé to change his approach to duels? Back in the starting eleven against Poland last Tuesday, the French captain was heckled, notably by Robert Lewandowski. “When you play with a broken nose and you don’t have an operation, you become a target. I don’t think Lewandowski did it on purpose. The reaction was instinctive. A lot of kids watch the games, we’ll have to try to control ourselves in the future. I knew what I was getting into. This is not a new situation. I can take hits, I’m ready to give everything for this jersey. If someone hits my nose to get to the quarter-finals, that’s fine with me. My nose is already broken.”
As for heading a ball again, “I haven’t headed one since I broke my nose,” smiled Mbappé. “But if I have to head it to score, I’ll head it.”
