No walk is more lonely than the saunter back to your teammates after missing the crucial space kick in a penalty shootout.
Kylian Mbappe knows this all too well.
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After a flawless nine penalties, he stepped up to take French’s fifth place kick in their European Championship 2020 round 16 match against Switzerland. Standing between the sticks was Yann Sommer, whose last penalty saving was back in November 2020.
Waiting no time at all for the whistle to take his shot, Mbappe’s run-up telegraphed his intentions with Sommer and made an easy stop to the right. After a short wait to determine if the Swiss stopper had come off his line before the ball was hit, the reality became clear. France was out of the European Championships and their star husband’s fault was the reason for that.
Many were quick to jump on the young man’s back after the match, suggesting that some of his teammates failed to comfort him hinted at attitude problems.
Regardless of the truth of these rumors, the missed penalty limited an overwhelming tournament for Mbappe. Statistics rarely tell the whole story, but still score zero goals for one of the best forwards in the world for gloomy reading. It is not as if Mbappe did not have chances to score either.
During his four matches in the competition, he tried 14 shots worth an accumulated 2.26 xG. During the period that ended with the Swiss match, it was only the English skipper Harry Kane who almost dramatically fulfilled his expected goals.
Mbappe’s finish has not been the only one in this tournament. The Paris Saint-Germain man has in truth only ever played in limited bursts. When he isolated his opposite number one to one, he looked unplayable. But his ability to do this has become less frequent as the tournament has evolved.
Mbappe has shown lightning of his quality during the tournament / Marcio Machado / Getty Images
Against Switzerland, he cut a largely withdrawn figure. With limited space behind, he had to build up in deeper positions for the most part. His partnership with Benzema – a real battleground for a large part of the French media – did not click either, which is in line with the tournament’s trend.
There is an argument that France might have done better if Didier Deschamps had not tried to spare both players an overloaded front line throughout the tournament. Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Mbappe’s underperformance was a major cause of the couple’s failures.
Against Switzerland, he may have earned an assist for one of Benzema’s goals, but his strike partner did all the work and maneuvered Mbappe’s misplaced pass into position with a miraculous first touch.
It was a similar story for his second “assist” in the competition. This came with the permission of a bizarre referee decision, with France awarded a penalty for Nelson Semedo’s light shoulder barge on Mbappe inside the box.
Kylian Mbappe accumulated 2.26 (xG) at Euro 2020 …
… without succeeding in scoring goals. pic.twitter.com/ChT62YB9Hp
– The XG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) June 29, 2021
Therefore, he leaves the tournament with very few notes – something that would have been unthinkable at the beginning of the month.
Mbappe entered Euro 2020 in the form of his young life. Despite PSG’s terrible failure to lift the Ligue 1 title, he enjoyed a great personal season. During the 2020/2021 campaign, he managed 42 goals and 11 assists in just 47 games.
This included an exciting hat-trick at the Nou Camp in the Champions League round 16. After this performance, people were quick to proclaim Mbappe and Erling Haaland as the natural successors to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
While Mbappe clearly has the talent to make sure this is the path he takes over the next decade, his disastrous Euro 2020 represents a significant bump in the road – perhaps the most challenging in his career to date.
Mbappe must jump back for PSG next season / JUSTIN SETTERFIELD / Getty Images
Next season is now massive for the future. To silence their doubts and put a marker for their rivals in the Ballon d’Or race, another strong club campaign with increased cutlery is needed.
Do it and his disciplined Euro 2020 experience will be remembered as nothing more than a footnote in his hero’s journey.
