France team: Kylian Mbappé returns to training!
Good news for Zinédine Zidane: Kylian Mbappé has returned to normal team training two days before Les Bleus travel to Turkey.
Kylian Mbappé is back with the squad. After the start of the camp was disrupted by flu-like symptoms, the captain of the France team took part normally in Wednesday’s session on the Michel-Platini pitch at Clairefontaine. After around 20 minutes of warm-up exercises indoors, Les Bleus worked in particular on tactics two days before Zinédine Zidane’s first match as head coach.
Around 48 hours without a team training session on the pitch
Mbappé had not really worked with his teammates since the start of the camp. On Monday, the Real Madrid forward stayed indoors before missing Tuesday’s entire team session due to flu-like symptoms. His return on Wednesday therefore brings an end to around 48 hours without team training on the pitch.
His absence on Tuesday had inevitably raised a few questions ahead of the trip to Turkey, but his full participation in the day’s session is a reassuring sign. Zinédine Zidane had confirmed in his first squad announcement that Mbappé would retain the captain’s armband.
Mbappé excited about working with Zidane
The Madrid player had also expressed his enthusiasm about Zidane’s arrival at the helm of Les Bleus. Referring to the fact that the former No. 10 had already welcomed him to Real Madrid’s training centre when he was a teenager, Mbappé summed up the situation emotionally: "It’s like a movie, but it’s great."
The France captain had also expressed confidence about the change of head coach after 14 years with Didier Deschamps: " It’s going to be a change for us, but I think everything will go very well. " Mbappé thus described this new adventure with Zidane as a special chapter in his international career.
Turkey to usher in the Zidane era
France will begin its Nations League campaign in Turkey on Friday, September 25. Les Bleus will then travel to Belgium on September 28, before hosting Italy on October 2 and Belgium on October 5 at the Stade de France.
For Zidane, Mbappé’s return therefore comes at the perfect time ahead of his first official match in charge of Les Bleus.
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