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
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

Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush is the man of the moment in the Bundesliga after a blistering start to the season for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Marmoush denied Bayern Munich a win in a thrilling game Sunday with a stoppage-time equalizer that made it 3-3. It was his second goal of the game. He also set up the other for Hugo Ekitiké, when he ran clear of Dayot Upamecano on a counterattack.

"Marmoush is a player who’s only going to get better with time," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. "What he did for Ekitiké’s goal is not normal. To push past Upa with strength, no one did that before for the whole season.

"And then to make the right decision at the end, the quality in his strike, and the speed. Sometimes he looks quite relaxed, then when he gets going, he’s really fast."

Marmoush has been stealing the attention from Bayern star Harry Kane, who failed to score Sunday and has five goals from six Bundesliga games this season.

Marmoush, who has now scored in five games straight, has eight, while he has also set up another six for his Frankfurt teammates.

"We’re like a family," he said. "You see that on the field, when we’re celebrating, the ones who didn’t play (join), we celebrate as a team."

Marmoush appears to have made a jump in performance since last season, when he scored 12 goals and set up nine in his 29 Bundesliga appearances.

Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller said he had made a "little deal" before the season with Marmoush, but wouldn’t reveal what it is.

"I told him that a second year with us would do him good because he’s on the way up and hasn’t reached the end," Toppmöller said. "And you can see that in this fantastic season."

The 25-year-old Marmoush is the latest in a long line of forwards who have excelled at Frankfurt, after Randal Kolo Muani, Sébastien Haller, Luka Jović and Jay-Jay Okocha.

Marmoush has had to be patient, working his way through at Wolfsburg, St. Pauli and Stuttgart after joining the former from Cairo-based Wadi Degla SC in 2017.

It’s only since he joined Frankfurt in 2023 that the tireless attacker has added goals to his repertoire.

On Sunday, he combined well with Ekitiké, while Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe headed the ball into his path for Marmoush's second goal.

"When I came last season, we took time to play together and to know what he likes on the pitch, what I like also, and I think in time we just created a connection," Ekitiké said. "Today he had two goals, one assist, So, yeah, he helped the team a lot."

Marmoush’s transformation into a goal-getter is good news for Egypt, which struggled for them without the injured Mohamed Salah at the African Cup of Nations in January.

Marmoush only scored one as the seven-time champion lost on penalties to Congo in the round of 16.

Next up for Frankfurt is a visit to defending champion Bayer Leverkusen after the international break.