DUESSELDORF.- Kylian Mbappé He wears more masks than goals in the Eurocup.
France’s captain struggles with peripheral vision as he wears a mask to protect his broken nose during his country’s Euro 2024 opener.
He wore a third, different mask on Monday in the 1-0 win over Belgium in the round of 16. The striker failed to hit five shots against Belgium. He has scored just one goal in the tournament, a penalty.
“He is getting used to it, but it affects his vision,” said coach Didier Deschamps. “Everything in front of him is fine, but there is something missing in his peripheral vision.”
Mbappé has described the experience of wearing a mask as “absolute horror”.
He was initially fitted with a custom-made mask in the colours of the French flag, but UEFA rules state that protective equipment must be a single colour and he switched to a black version against Poland.
She changed it again for the match against Belgium in the round of 16, with one that fit more closely to her face, had more ventilation and was held in place with one strap instead of two.
Mbappé and France will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Lautaro, the Argentine “killer”:
Four of Argentina’s five goals in the first round of the Copa América have been scored by Lautaro Martínez.
The tournament has become a sort of revenge for a striker who is coming off a splendid season at club level as Serie A’s top scorer with an Inter Milan side that won its 20th “Scudetto” to earn the right to have a second star embroidered on its shirt.
He arrived in the United States for the defense of the continental title as a substitute, displaced by Julián Álvarez as center forward.
With goalscoring goals in every Argentina game in the group stage, the “Toro” leads the scoring charts, followed by a group of seven players who have scored two, a group that includes Vinícius Júnior, Darwin Núñez and Salomón Rondón.
Lautaro did it by coming off the bench and scoring to set the final score in the 2-0 win over Canada and seal the 1-0 victory over Chile in the group stage. He was in the starting line-up in the final game against Peru and responded with a double to win 2-0. The other Argentine goal was scored by Julián Álvarez.
According to data platform Opta, he scored with just nine shots and 2.9 expected goals.
Ahead of the quarter-final clash against Ecuador in Houston on Thursday, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni will have to decide who between Lautaro and Álvarez will make up the current continental champion’s offense alongside Lionel Messi, if he recovers from a muscle injury, and Ángel Di María.
“I enjoy it as always, every time I put on this shirt I enjoy it,” said Lautaro after the match against Peru last weekend. “Many people want to wear this shirt. I work to show the coach that I am ready to play when he needs me.”
