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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — France coach Didier Deschamps said that superstar Kylian Mbappé is doing well after a Paraguayan senator made racist remarks toward him following Les Bleus’ Round of 16 win over Paraguay.
“Kylian is OK,” Deschamps said. “Whatever happened, I don’t want to look back and think about it. He’s a very strong guy mentally and physically. He’s focused on tomorrow’s game. Kylian is feeling OK, just like the rest of the group.”
Mbappé, 27, called politician Celeste Amarilla of Paraguay’s Liberal Radical Party a “despicable woman and unworthy of your position,” in a post on X earlier this week.
“Through your recklessness and your brazen racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort that your players accomplished during this World Cup,” Mbappé wrote, “making way for an incompetent woman who gives the worst possible image of her country. I will never allow people like her to spread their hatred and racism across the world.”
Amarilla responded to Mbappé with an open letter that threatened to take legal action for gender-based violence if he did not apologize; meanwhile, Paris prosecutors opened an investigation into her over potential aggravated public assault and incitement to hatred or violence.
The Paraguayan government said in a statement earlier this week that it “deplores and rejects” Amarilla’s comments. The French Football Federation released a statement calling her words “criminal and reprehensible,” leading in part to the criminal probe.
Deschamps said he didn’t know whether midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni would be available against Morocco, saying he was “doing better” but a decision hadn’t yet been made. Tchouaméni missed France’s Round of 16 match against Paraguay after medical scans revealed a tear in his groin, according to ESPN.
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France’s attempted appeal of Michael Olise’s yellow card — which came after Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension was controversially suspended — was unsuccessful, Deschamps said.
There was a bizarre moment at the end of Deschamps’ news conference when a Moroccan journalist protested that foreign media had not been allowed to ask enough questions. Deschamps ultimately took one more question before leaving.
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England’s Jordan Henderson posted on Instagram saying he had undergone surgery in Kansas City to deal with a broken arm, having suffered the injury while celebrating his team’s win over Mexico.
Moroccan coach Mouhamed Ouahabi said that striker Ismael Saibari, who came off with an injured hamstring against Canada, will not play Thursday.
Source: New York Post
