‘As soon as he walked up, you thought “oh no”‘: Gary Neville claims he KNEW Kylian Mbappe would miss his penalty after he failed to ‘turn up’ against Switzerland on a rare off night – and insists this bump in the road will be a HUGE test of his character
Gary Neville claimed he had a feeling Kylian Mbappe was going to miss his penalty after the France star failed to ‘turn up’ in extra-time on a rare off night.
Mbappe’s spot kick was well saved by Yann Sommer as Switzerland won the shootout 5-4 to dump the world champions out of Euro 2020 and book a quarter-final date with Spain.
The 22-year-old, who did play a key role in France’s second goal, was a regular threat to Switzerland on the night, but couldn’t produce the moment of magic he is capable of to make the difference.
Kylian Mbappe’s missed penalty saw France crashed out of Euro 2020 at the last-16 stage
The striker had his decisive spot kick saved by Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer
France’s exit means Mbappe goes home without having scored a single goal at the tournament.
Neville, who said the disappointment will be a huge test of Mbappe’s character, admitted that he fell short of his usual standards and his penalty miss summed up his fortunes on Monday night.
‘You just knew as Mbappe was walking up (for the penalty), you thought “oh no”,’ he told ITV.
‘I said just before extra-time I thought he would turn up, and he had a couple of moments in extra time. This has just not gone well for him at all.
Gary Neville claimed he knew Mbappe would miss because he had struggled in the match
A dejected Mbappe headed straight for the tunnel after France’s shootout defeat on Monday
‘He has aspirations to be the greatest player in the world, like Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Lionel Messi.
‘This is a little bump in the road for him but a massive test for him in the next few weeks. He’ll come through it.
‘He’s having a tough time obviously in this tournament, and it’s a tough one for him to take and the French team.’
Mbappe admitted afterwards the defeat has left him with ‘immense sadness’ and that he will ‘struggle to sleep tonight’ as he apologised for missing his crucial penalty.
‘I’m sorry for this penalty. I wanted to help the team but failed,’ he wrote on Instagram.
‘Getting to sleep will be difficult but unfortunately it is the ups and downs of this sport that I love so much.
‘I know you fans have been disappointed, but I still want to thank you for your support and for always believing in us.’
France had been one of the favourites to win the Euros but were hit with a cold reality check after being edged out by an inspired Switzerland side, who reached the quarter-finals at a major tournament for just the second time in their history.
Former France midfielder Patrick Vieira admitted Didier Deschamps’ men deserved to go out and questioned their appetite following the shock defeat.
The 22-year-old spurned a golden opportunity to score for France during extra-time
Patrick Vieira was hugely critical of France’s performance and insisted they deserved to lose
He added: ‘Tonight we have to give the credit to the Swiss team, because I strongly believe that the best team won today.
‘The best team deserved to go through to the next round, and tonight it was the Swiss.
‘I’m really disappointed with the attitude we had on the pitch. I think it was a poor French national team, there wasn’t any kind of togetherness, there wasn’t any kind of spirit. We didn’t play as a team, so we didn’t deserve to go to the next round.
‘I think at times we played well, because of the individual quality of the players making a difference, but collectively we were far behind the Swiss.’