France: Mbappé captain, Griezmann furious: dispute in Nazionale- Corriere.it

PARIS There is no peace in the French national team, which is trying to restart after the disappointment of the World Cup final lost on penalties to Argentina. Alongside the still unsolved Benzema case (mystery as to why he didn’t play in Qatar), that opens up Griezmannwho today celebrates his 32nd birthday with a regret: the coach Didier Deschamps chose not him but Kylian Mbapp as the new captain of the team in place of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris who has decided to leave the Equipe de France.

Deschamps informed Griezmann of his choice at the end of Monday’s dinner in Clairefontaine, the federal center where the team is retreating in view of Friday’s home match against the Netherlands, the first match of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. ‘was about a Griezmann very disappointed and tried.

In recent years, the French national team has been the team where Griezmann has played best, becoming its soul on and off the pitch. If his career in La Liga has known ups and downs in transfers from Real Sociedad to Atletico Madrid, then to Barcelona and then back to Atletico, with Les Bleus Griezmann has always maintained an excellent level and remained a pillar of the team after the first call-up by Deschamps himself, in 2014. Grizou has not missed a match in the national team since 13 June 2017 and reached 74 consecutive games, out of a total of 117. He counted on inheriting the captaincy from Lloris, and to lead the team up to Euro 2024 and then pass the job to the much younger (24 years old) Mbapp. But Deschamps, who highly esteems Mbapp’s communicator qualities, decided otherwise.

At first it seemed that Griezmann’s disappointment went as far as the temptation to quit the national team himself, but the alarm seems to have passed and on Friday he should play against the Netherlands. It will also be an important match from a symbolic point of view because the French Federation has decided to organize, before kick-off at the Stade de France, a farewell to the champions who have decided to leave Les Bleus after the World Cup in Qatar: goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, as mentioned, but also Steve Mandanda, Blaise Matuidi, and Raphal Varane.

Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid centre-forward, had also been invited, but he preferred to refuse and will not be there. A very heavy absence, the umpteenth episode in the dispute between him and coach Deschamps. A few days ago Deschamps gave his version of Benzema’s absence at the World Cup: After the injury in training, as soon as we arrived in Doha, it was he who wanted to leave Qatar immediately, returned to Europe on a scheduled flight at dawn, even though I had told him there was no hurry and he could stay. Benzema, who appeared to be injured, played for a friendly match with Real Madrid just the day before the final against Argentina, in which his presence could perhaps have changed the course of the game. Benzema commented on Deschamps’ statements by calling him a clown with an emoticon on social media, and last March 11 promised on Instagram: In short, I will have to give my explanations, for the people, the people of fans and admirers to whom he had dedicated the Ballon d’Or.

On Friday, against the Netherlands, Benzema will not be on the pitch or at the farewell ceremony. At 20.45 they will play the new captain Kylian Mbapp, increasingly indispensable in the national team and in Paris Saint-Germain and, except for twists and turns, a mortified vice-captain Antoine Griezmann.