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Kylian Mbappe pointed fingers at himself after France failed to impress at the European Championship this summer. The PSG attacker has opened up on that difficult period, admitting he was made a scapegoat for the team's failings.
He explained:
"I have never taken a single euro to play for the French national team and I will always play for my national team for free. Above all, I never wanted to be a problem."
"But from the moment (France lost in Euro 2020) I felt like that I was starting to become a problem and that people felt I was a problem... I received the message that my ego was what made us lose, that I wanted to take up too much space, and that without me, therefore, we might have won."
"The most important thing is the French national team and if the French national team is happier without me, [I'll go]. I could have [gotten more on-field support], I agree. But I would have never gone to demand it, it is not the same thing. Of course that would have been nice, but I would never go ask for support on something that I messed up."
"You can't look at things in too cynical a manner: in the heat of the moment, everyone is disappointed about being eliminated. In the dressing room, later on, the players came to see me.
"What shocked me, again, was being called a monkey for the penalty. That is what I wanted support around, not because I took my penalty to the left and Sommer stopped it. It is over now, it is behind me. I have so much love for the French national team," Mbappe added.
Kylian Mbappe's penalty miss was intensely criticized
France fought their way through the group stage of the European Championship this summer, finishing as leaders of Group F with five points. They qualified for the round of 16 where they locked horns with Switzerland.
Both sides produced an intense clash that resulted in a 3-3 scoreline in 90 minutes. With nothing separating them after extra-time, the match headed into the shootout. Kylian Mbappe missed the decisive penalty that gave Switzerland a 5-4 triumph.
The attacker had fingers pointed at him for that miss, with many accusing him of being egoistic. There was also a feud that involved the PSG winger with Olivier Giroud and Karim Benzema in the background.
