عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Mbappe under Fire for Skipping France Duty While Fit to Play for Real

Football - Euro 2024 - Group D - France v Poland - Dortmund BVB Stadion, Dortmund, Germany - June 25, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - Euro 2024 - Group D - France v Poland - Dortmund BVB Stadion, Dortmund, Germany - June 25, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Mbappe under Fire for Skipping France Duty While Fit to Play for Real

Football - Euro 2024 - Group D - France v Poland - Dortmund BVB Stadion, Dortmund, Germany - June 25, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - Euro 2024 - Group D - France v Poland - Dortmund BVB Stadion, Dortmund, Germany - June 25, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)

France captain Kylian Mbappe is facing criticism in his home country for skipping Les Bleus' Nations League games against Israel and Belgium while being available to play for Real Madrid.

The forward picked up a muscle injury last month but made his return to the pitch in the Champions League last Wednesday.

France coach Didier Deschamps left Mbappe out of the squad he announced on Thursday, saying the 25-year-old lacked preparation, having played too few matches.

Mbappe started Real's La Liga game against Villarreal on Saturday.

"Either you're injured, and you don't play with your club and you're not called up in the national team," former France international Maxime Bossis told French sports daily L'Equipe on Monday.

"But when you come off the bench in the Champions League and you start a league game, it makes things fuzzy. He's a special player. We've known that with Michel Platini, when we still wanted him with us when he was injured."

Mbappe's situation is more complicated because the former Paris St Germain player is the national team captain after being handed the armband ahead of Antoine Griezmann, who last week announced his retirement from international football.

Griezmann's commitment to Les Bleus was never in doubt as the Atletico Madrid forward played a record 84 consecutive matches for his country between 2017 and 2024.

"As a captain (Mbappe) must be an example for the fans, and he has not been," Fabien Bonnet, spokesperson for the Irresistibles Francais, the main France supporters' group, told L'Equipe.

"What emerges is that the real captain, Antoine Griezmann, is gone."

France, second in Group A, face Israel in Budapest on Thursday and travel to Belgium next Monday.

Most Viewed

 
Sports

Man City Favorites, but FA Cup Door Wide Open for Seven Others

A combination of file pictures created in London on March 28, 2025, shows Bournemouth's Spanish manager Andoni Iraola (L) looking on before the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Bournemouth at Craven Cottage in London on December 29, 2024 and Manchester City’s coach Pep Guardiola (R) attending a press conference at Alvalade stadium in Lisbon, on November 4, 2024. (AFP)
A combination of file pictures created in London on March 28, 2025, shows Bournemouth's Spanish manager Andoni Iraola (L) looking on before the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Bournemouth at Craven Cottage in London on December 29, 2024 and Manchester City’s coach Pep Guardiola (R) attending a press conference at Alvalade stadium in Lisbon, on November 4, 2024. (AFP)
TT
20
TT

Man City Favorites, but FA Cup Door Wide Open for Seven Others

A combination of file pictures created in London on March 28, 2025, shows Bournemouth's Spanish manager Andoni Iraola (L) looking on before the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Bournemouth at Craven Cottage in London on December 29, 2024 and Manchester City’s coach Pep Guardiola (R) attending a press conference at Alvalade stadium in Lisbon, on November 4, 2024. (AFP)
A combination of file pictures created in London on March 28, 2025, shows Bournemouth's Spanish manager Andoni Iraola (L) looking on before the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Bournemouth at Craven Cottage in London on December 29, 2024 and Manchester City’s coach Pep Guardiola (R) attending a press conference at Alvalade stadium in Lisbon, on November 4, 2024. (AFP)

Manchester City are favorites to win this season's FA Cup and salvage something from a troubled season but the seven other clubs left in a wide-open draw may never have a better opportunity to win the trophy.

None of the five most successful clubs in FA Cup history -- Arsenal, holders Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur or Liverpool -- are in the quarter-finals.

City, who travel to Bournemouth on Sunday, won the Cup for a seventh time two years ago but of the other teams in this weekend's quarter-finals, the most recent winner is Nottingham Forest who went all the way in 1959.

The combined FA Cup triumphs of the eight clubs left is 18 -- the lowest since 1997 -- and seven of those were for Aston Villa who have not won it since 1957.

Second-tier Preston North End, who host Villa on Sunday, are statistically the third most successful FA Cup team left but 1938 was the last time they lifted the trophy.

Action begins on Saturday with a London derby between Fulham and Crystal Palace, two clubs who have never won the FA Cup or any major silverware for that matter.

Fulham reached the final in 1975 while Palace have made two finals, losing to Manchester United in 1990 and again in 2016.

A cracking atmosphere is expected at Craven Cottage as the evenly-matched Premier League rivals seek a semi-final spot.

Saturday's later game sees Brighton & Hove Albion, whose one FA Cup final appearance was in 1983, host Forest.

Like Forest, Brighton are also chasing European qualification through the Premier League and they will be keen to avenge a 7-0 league hammering against Nuno Espirito Santo's team at the beginning of February.

Brighton are unbeaten since then and Fabian Hurzeler's in-form side are tipped to make him the youngest manager to win the FA Cup since Stan Cullis, also 32, led Wolverhampton Wanderers to the trophy in 1949.

"In this phase of the season, we need to have the belief. And I have the biggest belief in this group -- the belief that they can win and that they can achieve a season everyone remembers," the German said on Friday.

Preston are bidding to become the first club outside the top flight to reach the FA Cup final since Cardiff City in 2008.

Sitting 14th in the Championship table, they will hope a passionate crowd at Deepdale will help them stun a Villa team who have reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2015 when they went on to reach the final and lose to Arsenal.

"We are in the quarter-finals and that's a bit of magic for the Cup," Preston midfielder Stefan Thordarson. "It's harder and harder but we have shown that teams like us can do it.

"It's up for grabs for anyone this year."

The quarter-finals conclude on Sunday with Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth hoping to shut off Manchester City's last remaining route to silverware this season at the Vitality Stadium.

Bournemouth, four points behind City in the Premier League in 10th spot, are in the quarter-finals for only the third time.

"I think we have a big opportunity this weekend, anyone who steps on the pitch has to be ready to give everything, and even that might not be enough to beat City," Iraola said.

"But the chance to play at Wembley -- for City it is less important as they play there a lot, but for us it is huge."

City are seeking a seventh successive semi-final.