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Heavy scrutiny has continued to follow Kylian Mbappe since his long-awaited Real Madrid move over the summer. The 25-year-old French star must learn to play as a central striker because he will not be able to displace Vinicius Junior on the left flank, according to the club’s long-serving former forward Karim Benzema, who made 14 international appearances alongside him for Les Bleus.
Continue reading “Benzema: People ask plenty of under-fire Mbappe but he must adapt, Real isn’t PSG”
Was there ever any doubt? Kylian Mbappe marked his first Real Madrid appearance with a goal and some silverware to boot before the domestic campaign kicks off later this week, as Carlo Ancelotti’s side steadied themselves after an irritating first-half to hit Atalanta with two goals in nine second-half minutes as they clinched this season’s Super Cup trophy – a record sixth. Continue reading “Real Madrid 2-0 Atalanta: Valverde and Mbappe strikes sink La Dea in Super Cup”
Barely a week after his official pre-season preparations began with Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappe is poised to start and could win some silverware to kickstart the 2024-25 campaign as the Champions League holders face an Italian job as free-flowing Atalanta aspire to spring a surprise when the European champions duel one another for bragging rights in Poland midweek. Continue reading “Super Cup: Ancelotti admits defensive balance is a must, hints at Mbappe starting”
France finally ended their open play goal drought but it wasn’t enough to stop Spain from overturning the slender deficit with a four-minute turnaround during an action-packed first-half, powered by teenage wonderkid Lamine Yamal four days before his 17th birthday as Luis de la Fuente’s side held firm in a frenzied second-half to seal a spot in Sunday’s European Championship final.
Continue reading “Spain 2-1 France: Yamal’s wonderstrike sends inspired La Roja into Euro final”
Seven years after Real had a €180m bid accepted for the then-Monaco wonderkid, the newly-crowned 15-time Champions League winners have their man. Kylian Mbappe’s dream has been realised, having made history at home with Paris Saint-Germain, and now the France captain will acclimatise to new surroundings and expectations with Los Blancos after Euro 2024 this month. Continue reading “Mbappe’s long-awaited dream realised at long last, as Real confirm multi-year deal”
Just days after officially announcing he’d leave the Ligue 1 champions on a free transfer this summer, France captain and PSG superstar forward Kylian Mbappe scored first but Toulouse had the last laugh as Carles Martinez’s clinical side punished the hosts – who made wholesale changes after their painful Champions League semifinal defeat on Tuesday – during a night of celebration. Continue reading “PSG 1-3 Toulouse: Les Violets clinical, spoil Mbappe’s final Parc des Princes farewell”
PSG star forward Kylian Mbappe capped his 25th birthday with a matchwinning brace during their 3-1 home win over Metz tonight, while his teenage brother and midfielder Ethan was afforded a few minutes from the bench to make his maiden senior appearance on a memorable night for the Mbappe household. Continue reading “Birthday boy Mbappe nets brace in 3-1 Metz win, younger brother Ethan debuts”
PSG’s 17-year-old midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery now has goal contributions in his last five club appearances after thumping home the second in a comfy 3-0 home win over Montpellier overnight – with marauding fullback Achraf Hakimi notching two assists on an evening where overlapping runs were devastating. Continue reading “PSG 3-0 Montpellier: Zaire-Emery on target as Hakimi stars in comfortable win”
Theo Hernandez’s early strike and a first international goal for second-half substitute Randal Kolo Muani ensure reigning champions France are back in the World Cup final, where they’ll play Lionel Messi and Argentina on Sunday afternoon. Morocco fought valiantly, but Les Bleus can now become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to defend their crown as world champions.
Continue reading “WC 2022 – France 2-0 Morocco: Hernandez, Kolo Muani sink historic Africans, into Sunday’s final”
For all the talk of focusing on defending against the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe, it was France’s all-time top goalscorer Olivier Giroud – who spent nine years playing in England’s top-tier – delivering the final blow as Gareth Southgate’s men showed spirit but ultimately crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage with a jarring 2-1 defeat by the defending champions. Continue reading “France 2-1 England: Giroud the matchwinner as Kane’s penalty miss sends Southgate’s men out”
Olivier Giroud surpassed Thierry Henry to top the all-time goalscoring charts for France, scoring against a former teammate in goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny no less, before Kylian Mbappe’s second-half brace ended Poland’s fading hopes of a late comeback. Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski scored a retaken penalty late, on what could be his last World Cup appearance. Continue reading “France 3-1 Poland: Giroud breaks all-time record, Mbappe’s second-half brace puts Poles to the sword”
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Four of the last five World Cup winners have gone on to crash out in the group stages at the subsequent tournament, a statistic beginning with France themselves back in 2002. For a 20-minute spell in their Group D opener against Australia, you could be forgiven for thinking history would repeat itself. Now though, they’ll be expecting to build on a display highlighting some strengths while lluminating weaknesses with tougher challenges in the days to come.
Continue reading “France 4-1 Australia: World champions rally from early scare to earn big win in World Cup opener”
Mo and Sports 