Kylian Mbappé suffered on the bench. With his arms folded, he had to stand idly by and watch as France, the top-class attacking force even without the superstar, failed to score a goal in their second game of the European Championship. "I'd be more worried if we didn't create any chances," said coach Didier Deschamps: "But to win games, you have to score goals, of course."
Unrest is already spreading at home. "At the beginning of the preparations for the European Championship, the big doubts were still about the defense. Just over three weeks later, the question marks are growing on the other side of the pitch," wrote "Le Parisien". The clean sheet against the Netherlands in Leipzig on Friday further increased the concerns.
Antoine Griezmann alone had plenty of chances, but even Mbappé's deputy as captain and this time in his beloved more central attacking position just couldn't get the ball over the line. "The ball got stuck at my feet on two occasions," he explained: "We lacked efficiency in both games." Despite players like Griezmann, like France's record goalscorer Olivier Giroud, despite Ousmane Dembélé or Marcus Thuram,
