Kylian Mbappe says he considered France retirement due to racist abuse after Euro 2020 penalty miss
Kylian Mbappe has confirmed that he considered retiring from the France national team after his penalty miss at EURO 2020. However, he added that it was because of the racist messages he received and not because of his own rare mistake.
Noel Le Graet, the president of the French Football Federation, spoke to Le Journal Du Dimanche and revealed that Mbappe was on the verge of retiring from the national team.
:
Kylian Mbappé ne voulait plus jouer avec l'équipe de France après l’Euro 2020, déclare Noël Le Graët 😨 :
« Il trouvait que la Fédération ne l’avait pas défendu après son penalty raté et les critiques sur les réseaux. Il ne voulait plus jouer en équipe de France. »
(JDD) https://t.co/fezG1zN9Ur
He claimed that the PSG star was angry and did not want to play for France anymore after EURO 2020.
"I met with him after the Euros, he felt the Federation had not defended him after his missed penalty and the criticism on the networks. We met for five minutes in my office. He was angry, he didn't want to play for the French team any more - which he obviously didn't mean. You know how it is, he's a winner, he was very frustrated, like all of us, by the elimination. He's so media-friendly. He's a great guy, much more collective than people think."
Mbappe has now tweeted and confirmed that he did consider retirement, but it was not because of his penalty miss. He added that it was a result of the racist messages he got on social media.
Oui enfin je lui ai surtout bien expliqué que c’était par rapport au racisme et NON au penalty.
Mais lui considérait qu’il n’y avait pas eu de racisme… twitter.com/actufoot_/stat…
Kylian Mbappe spoke previously also about the EURO 2020 penalty miss
Today was not the first time Kylian Mbappe spoke about the penalty miss at EURO 2020. In October last year, the PSG star admitted in an interview with L'Equipe that he was happy to leave the French national team if he was considered the problem.
"I have never taken a single Euro to play for the French national team and I will always play for my national team for free. Above all, I never wanted to be a problem. But from the moment where I felt like that I was starting to become a problem and that people felt I was a problem. I received the message that my ego was what made us lose, that I wanted to take up too much space, and that without me, therefore, we might have won. The most important thing is the French national team, and if the French national team is happier without me, [I'll go]."
Kylian Mbappe was linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer, but he penned a new deal at PSG instead.