The French sports daily L’Equipe reported that Mbappe agreed to become captain after a conversation with coach Didier Deschamps.
Didier Deschamps appointed Kylian Mbappe as the new captain of Les Bleus. Antoine Griezmann is vice-captain, FFF said on Twitter.
Kylian meets all the requirements to carry this responsibility. Both on the field and in the life of the group, being a unifying element, French television channel TF1 quoted Deschamps as saying in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
Mbappe, 24, has been seen as one of the candidates for the role since goalkeeper Llaurice retired from international soccer in January, weeks after leading France to their second straight World Cup final, where they were beaten by Argentina.
Mbappe was on the field 66 times and played a key role in a successful 2018 World Cup campaign, as well as winning second place in 2022.
France will take on the Netherlands at the Stade de France on Friday in their first Euro 2024 qualifier before traveling to Ireland next Monday.
Chhetri barely had time to sit on the bench in Goa when Sivasakti Narayanan hit his nose on Ashik Kuruniyan’s shoulder and had to be replaced. Starting in the fourth minute, the 38-year-old Chhetri played all night, converting a penalty at halftime and in the tiebreak when Bengaluru FC lost 5-6 to ATK Mohun Bagan. ISL’s finding, according to India head coach Igor Stimats, that Chhetri’s unavailability means he will only be able to play for a club or country for the second time this year.
With the other eight Bagan and Bengaluru players tired from travel, congratulations and the regular season, Stimac will likely try to get them ready for Saturday’s game against Kyrgyzstan. That means goalkeeper Amrinder Singh could be on the field for the first time since the away friendly against Nepal on Sept. 5, 2021. Making his debut for the Indian national team in 2017, Singh, 29, was Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s understudy but played all 21 games for Odisha FC in ISL9.
Stimak’s statement at Tuesday’s press conference in Imphal that you can definitely expect many of Manipur to take the field tomorrow could also mean a new pair of central defenders. Chinglensana Singh could be a senior partner in the interior defense, and given that Stimack wants to try new players in the year leading up to the Asian Cup finals, Mehtab Singhcan play alongside.
Except for midfielder Suresh Wangjam and defender Naorem Roshan Singh, who played in the ISL final, and Naorem Mahesh Singh of East Bengal, who was called up to the national team later after Glan Martins was injured Saturday, all players born in Manipur will likely be in the starting lineup. That means Jixon Singh will play in the center of midfield and Bipin Singh will play at left winger. Since Manveer Singh has been rested, Chhetri could be a striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Lalianzualla Chhangte, ISL’s best player of the season, on the right wing.
Myanmar leads 11-9 in wins in head-to-head encounters, but India beat them away in March 2017 when Chhetri scored in the 90th minute off an assist from Udanta Singh. The return match of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifier ended 2-2. Goals from Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua helped India bounce back after going 0-2 in the first half.
Myanmar is ranked 159th by FIFA, India is 106th. The Kyrgyz Republic, ranked 94th, is the highest-ranked team in the competition. Myanmar has not won since beating Timor Leshti 2-0 in December 2021, losing 11 of 13 games before Wednesday’s match. India has won three of its last five matches — all in the Asian Cup ԛ last June — drew with Singapore and lost to Vietnam.
India is probably too strong, and maybe we have no chance against them, Myanmar coach Michael Feichtenbeiner told reporters in Imphal. We are here to improve our results and build our future.
