France star Kylian Mbappe was prepared to quit the national team last year after facing a lot of criticism following his penalty miss against Switzerland at Euro 2020.
According to Noel Le Graet, the president of the French Football Federation, the PSG forward was ready to turn his back on France after his fellow countrymen turned on him for missing the decisive spot-kick in the last-16 shootout, which led to Les Bleus crashing out of the tournament.
Following the abuse he got on social media by furious fans, there were initial rumours that the 23-year-old would pull himself out of contention for subsequent national team selection.
Le Graet has now confirmed the rumours after the duo held a brief discussion, but the chief has also insisted that the frustration was only for a fleeting moment.
“I met with him after the Euros. He felt the Federation had not defended him after his missed penalty and the criticism on the networks,’ he told Le Journal Du Dimanche.
“We met for five minutes in my office. He was angry. He didn’t want to play for the French team anymore – which he obviously didn’t mean.
“You know how it is. He’s a winner. He was very frustrated, like all of us, by the elimination. He’s so media-friendly.
“He’s a great guy, much more collective than people think.”
In October last year, Mbappe said he was prepared to walk away from contention on the international stage if he was considered to be a ‘problem’ for the side.
“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,” he said.
“Above all, I never wanted to be a problem.
“But from the moment where 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 met with the president, and we talked about it. What I went to complain to him about was that I was insulted and called a ‘monkey’ for missing a penalty.
“That is not the same thing. I will never complain about a penalty. The penalty. I was the one who missed it.”
