France wait on Mbappepublished at 15:21
Netherlands v France (Fri, 20:00 BST)
Kylian Mbappe’s teammates are hopeful he might yet be available for Friday’s European Championship clash against the Netherlands after suffering a broken nose in the win over Austria on Monday.
France have made no announcement on their captain’s availability for their next match at the tournament in Germany but French media reports on Tuesday ruled him out of the encounter.
However, both Adrien Rabiot and William Saliba, sounded an optimistic note at a press conference on Wednesday:
“I met him this morning, he was a little better. He had gone to do other tests. I don’t know more. But when I saw him this morning, he was better,” defender Saliba told reporters
Rabiot highlighted the example of his Juventus teammate Wojciech Szczesny, the Poland goalkeeper who also suffered a broken nose in April.
“I don’t know exactly if it’s the same as Kylian. He had surgery the next day or two days later and he was available for the following match,” Rabiot recalled.
“That’s why when they told me about Kylian’s nose being broken, in my head it wasn’t so serious, because I told myself that he could be available quite quickly.”