The temperatures which will be measured in Dortmund at the time of the France-Poland kick-off this Tuesday evening (6 p.m.) will probably generate excessive perspiration which, if it is not well evacuated by Mbappé’s mask, could hinder the Blues striker on the field.
The expected temperature in Dortmund (28°C felt like 31°C at 6 p.m.) for the kick-off of the French team’s match against Poland could be handicapping for Kylian Mbappé, now protected by a mask which, if he is responsible for protecting him against a new shock, should not make his task as a player on the field easier. “What can bother him is not necessarily vision or breathing, but perspiration,” explains to the Parisian David Bonnet, orthotist at the Center for Orthopedics and Well-being in Allauch (Bouches-du-Rhône ).
“I was drinking my own sweat. Like I had a sauna on my face.” The late Kobe Bryant experienced the constraints imposed by wearing a mask, initially transparent for him, a tool which embarrassed him terribly. “I was sweating a lot,” the Lakers legend testified in 2012, whom the press had renamed the “masked mamba”.
“Not very pleasant”
Most athletes who have had to wear a mask after suffering a broken nose admit it. Beyond the repercussions on visual comfort likely to hinder the player’s ability to take in information and will have to turn his head to avoid blind spots, perspiration can be extremely inconvenient, as the mask prevents it from escaping.
“The first time, with the heat and the sweating, it wasn’t very pleasant,” recalls former Chamois Niortais defender Tristan Lahaye for Ouest France. “What bothered me the most was the perspiration,” says Montpellier striker Arnaud Nordin in the columns of Le Parisien. With spring and the heat arriving in Montpellier, the sweat dripped from my forehead and reached me in the eyes. It was hard to mop up.”
Remaining on the bench against the Netherlands (0-0), during which he was greatly missed by the Blues’ attack, Kylian Mbappé played his first opposition on Saturday against a youth team from the Paderborn club, where he train the Blues, not far from their base camp. Mbappé scored two goals and delivered two assists, with this mask that he is starting to tame.
“It’s better every day, he’s better today than yesterday and the day before yesterday. Obviously since he’s had sessions. The hematoma has resolved well and he’s getting used to the mask,” said Deschamps on the eve of the match. All the lights are green for a return to the field hoped for this Tuesday at 6 p.m.
