Reporter Cho Yong-un = Now is the time to entrust French football to Kylian Mbafe (25, Paris Saint-Germain).
France accelerates generational change. After winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia, they took second place in the 2022 Qatar competition, and some of the golden generation, who did not miss the top, are gradually leaving the national team.
France’s longest-serving captain Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur) decided last month to retire from the national team. Lloris, who played his first match for France in a friendly match against Uruguay in November 2008, continued as captain from November 2010 to the World Cup final in Qatar.
Following Lloris, who ended his 14-year career as the French national team, world-class defender Rafael Baran (Manchester United) also ended his partnership. Baran, who first played an A match in March 2013, stepped on the World Cup stage three times and contributed to reaching the top in Russia.
Based on his rich experience of 93 A-match appearances, Varane was considered the most promising captain candidate after Lloris retired. But as Varane wraps up a decade representing the country, France must find a new leader. In general, I look at Mbappe’s leadership. 메이저놀이터
Mbappe showed the qualities to be a leader at the World Cup in Qatar. After losing 0-2 in the first half against Argentina in the final, Mbappe said in the locker room, “This is the World Cup final. We have to fight hard. We need a different play from now,” he raised his voice toward his teammates.
Although France did not win, Mbappe’s speech made a difference in the second half, leading to a close penalty shootout. Even after the finals, there was a considerable atmosphere that expected that Mbappe would become Lloris’s captain’s successor. Even now that Lloris and Baran have left, the French media’GFFN’ weighed that “Mbappe is one of the strong candidates to take over the captaincy.”