June 14 – A feud between strikers Kylian Mbappé and Oliver Giroud is threatening to disrupt morale in the French camp ahead of the upcoming heavyweight Euro 2020 clash against Germany.
Following the world champions’ 3-0 victory against Bulgaria in a friendly last week tensions surfaced when Giroud, his country’s second highest scorer of all time but unlikely to start against the Germans, suggested he was not getting the service he deserved – considered to be a swipe at his superstar teammate.
Mbappe admitted he was “affected” by the row but that he didn’t want it a distraction for France, one of the tournament favourites, for their huge opening fixture in Munich on Tuesday.
“We’re here to represent France and the national team represents the most important thing. We have a big competition and these trivial things aren’t going to disrupt our preparation,” the Paris St Germain striker said.
Mbappe, the leading scorer in Ligue 1 last season with 27 goals, revealed he had wanted to address the matter earlier but was dissuaded from doing so by France coach Didier Deschamps.
He claimed it wasn’t what Giroud said that bothered him, but the public perception.
“He expresses a feeling when he speaks. I’m a forward too and I’ve had that same feeling 365 times in a game, when you feel like you’re not being served. It’s more about releasing it publicly.
“I would have preferred that he come and even be much more scathing about it. In the dressing room if I have something to say to someone I will tell them and it stays there, I don’t have a problem.”
“I don’t want that to disturb the team. We will already have very difficult tests, we don’t need to make things even harder.”
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