Euro 2020: Kylian Mbappe will bounce back after penalty miss, says France coach Didier Deschamps

France coach Didier Deschamps is confident that Striker Kylian Mbappe will bounce back from missing the decisive penalty in France’s shootout loss to Switzerland on Monday that saw the world champions exit Euro 2020 at the last-16 stage.

Deschamps said the striker and the rest of the team would learn from their tournament disappointment

“It will help everyone I think. Kylian, even if he didn’t score a goal (at the Euros), he was decisive in many actions that we had, and he took responsibility to take this penalty,” said Deschamps during a news conference.

“No-one is really angry with him. I talked to our players, we know the strength of this team, we’ve had many magnificent moments together — today it really hurts, there’s lots of sadness,” he added.

France had been trying to win back-to-back major titles for the second time. The French won the World Cup in 1998 and followed that up with the title at Euro 2000. Five years ago, France lost in the Euro 2016 final, but then won the 2018 World Cup.

Mbappé was only 19 when France won that title in Moscow, and he became youngest player since Pele in 1958 to score in a World Cup final.

The Brazilian great was quick to offer his support after the heart-breaking miss in Bucharest.

“Keep your head up, Kylian! Tomorrow is the first day of a new journey, @KMbappe,” the Brazil great wrote on Twitter.

Keep your head up, Kylian! Tomorrow is the first day of a new journey, @KMbappe.

— Pelé (@Pele) June 28, 2021

France coach Didier Deschamps played on those winning teams more than 20 years ago, and was trying to become the first man to achieve the feat as both a player and a coach.

The 52-year-old coach dismissed suggestions none of Mbappe’s team mates went to comfort him after his spot kick was saved.

“The whole group is united in the dressing room. No-one talks about ‘you made this mistake’ or ‘you made that mistake’, Kylian knows his responsibility,” added Deschamps.

France were 3-1 up and cruising with 15 minutes to go after a superb goal by Paul Pogba, but the dogged Swiss scored twice to force extra time before eventually going through to face Spain in the quarter-finals in St Petersburg on Friday.

“Today we were against a strong Swiss team, they gave us some problems in the first half, and of course France is used to having compact opponents,” Deschamps explained.

“We scored our second goal in the second half which changed everything and, if you want, 10 minutes before the end we could have managed our two-goal advantage better.”

Kingsley Coman hit the bar in the final seconds of normal time as luck seemed to desert the world champions when they needed it most, but Deschamps was not complaining.

“In extra time there were some final chances that we had, and penalties are always like that. It hurts, but you have to accept it — that’s football,” he said.

“Mostly we’re on the good end, but today we’re not and everyone is really sad. Everyone is really disappointed.”