Didier Deschamps was unable to confirm whether or not Kylian Mbappé will be able to return to the France team for their next match against the Netherlands on Friday after the forward suffered a badly broken nose in Düsseldorf.
“He’s not doing well. He’s with the medical staff. I cannot tell you anything else,” Deschamps said after the 1-0 win against Austria. “His nose got badly hit. We need to check that out. It is just really unfortunate right now.”
Pressed on whether Mbappé had gone to hospital, Deschamps pleaded ignorance. “I don’t know,” he insisted. “The medical staff is looking after him. I don’t have the evidence in my hands. The staff are checking him out. I saw him on the massage table. He didn’t get off lightly. It remains to be seen. But you know me, when I don’t have the facts I keep shtumm.”
Deschamps added: “The national squad will always be stronger with Kylian. But if the news does not go along these lines we will have to fight without him. But Kylian is Kylian and every team is stronger with him in it.”
A French Football Federation statement later said that Mbappé had gone to hospital before returning to France’s base and would not need surgery. “A mask will be made so as to allow the No 10 of the French team to consider resuming competition after a period devoted to treatment,” it said.
Otherwise Deschamps was happy with the way his team performed during a low-key opening victory. “It’s always good to start off with a win against an opponent that is very good, with a lot of athletic qualities, who put a lot of pressure on us,” he said. “We could have managed certain situations better, but overall I would assess the match as a positive.
“We had to fight. And this is important. We need to keep that up for the rest of the tournament. I’m satisfied with our first victory. We have 36 hours now to recuperate. I don’t think the computer was very nice to us.”
Asked about the performance of Arsenal’s William Saliba, who was selected ahead of Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté in the centre of France’s defence, Deschamps said: “I make choices considering all the elements I have. I know we are trying to set up a hierarchy but sometimes it develops with what I see in training and on the pitch.
“It is good for one player and it’s not so good for another. I decided to put Saliba on the pitch because I decided he was better than Konaté for this type of match.”
