“Kylian Mbappé will probably be in your zone. How do you anticipate it?
I’ve been preparing for it since we knew our opponent. He’s known. It’s easy to see images of him. After that, I can prepare as much as I want. I’ll have to be there on the field.
With the doubt about his position, axis or left, is it harder to prepare?
Not necessarily. If it’s not him on the left, it will be someone else with a lot of qualities as well. The French have a lot of good players coming off the bench.
Comment limiter son impact ?
You have to be careful with his calls behind you. Otherwise it’s over. Keep him in front of you as much as possible. If you’re late, a midfielder can arrive to outnumber you. If you’re too close, you run the risk of him leaving. So, you have to anticipate the passes made to him, read the game well with great concentration. And don’t be too aggressive. All it takes is one feint and he’ll leave behind you again. That’s dangerous.
Thomas Meunier advocated having this aggressiveness. Is it to make yourself respected in duels?
You have to set the tone. But what you need most is intensity. Being aggressive, and having two players around you, can encourage you to give yourself up stupidly. You have to be smart. Just make it clear that you are here.
You are making a lot of efforts, empty calls. Against France, will you restrict your advances given the speed of the left winger?
It will depend a little on what the coach is preparing. In the first match (three flat), I stayed to block the counterattack. Against Romania (4-2-3-1), it was the opposite. I had a lot of freedom. If you don’t see me running too much, it’s because I was asked not to.
I didn’t like playing with it (the mask). So I took it off.
Timothy Castagne, Belgian international defender
You have already played with a mask after a facial injury like Mbappé. How did you handle it?
It bothered me a lot because you always have the outline of the mask in your line of sight, in your peripheral gaze. It’s 1% or 2% of vision, but it bothered me. I didn’t like playing with it. So I took it off.
Did you feel a change with this knockout phase?
Maybe we have less pressure. As a group, you wonder if you’re going to get out of it. What do you do if that’s not the case? There, we arrive as outsiders. The goals against Romania (2-0) relieved us. Finally it came in. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. There, we must let go of the horses. Winning against France would be a trigger. »
