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When the mask came off, we saw no hero, but instead France’s greatest fear: a man carrying the hopes of his people.
In the scorching heat of the Ruhr Valley and battling for the top spot in Group D, Kylian Mbappe, complete with a ninja turtle mask to protect his broken nose, kept his cool after scoring a second-half penalty and France looked set to comfortably beat Poland, who had no real reason to contest.
Real Madrid’s new man had plenty of chances to shatter Poland’s resistance in Dortmund, but another waste of a team without a goal from open play throughout the tournament proved costly, as another more experienced professional, accustomed to playing for his country, spoiled the party.
Finishing second in the group is not a disaster, but concerns about France’s ability before the tournament remain.
Apart from an early bruising shot from Katzper Urbanski, France goalkeeper Mike Maignan should have brought a beach towel for the first half, hoping to reach the sun loungers at the iconic Westfalenstadion before the home fans.
Deschamps tried to make some changes from the start to address his team’s weaknesses at the other end of the pitch, bringing Bradley Barkoula up front for Mbappe, and PSG’s talent meant France fielded their youngest line-up since the 1960 European Championships.
But most of the chances fell to one man. After Ousmane Dembele had a great chance well saved by Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, Mbappe shot just wide and missed the first good chance of the game just before half-time, only for Skorupski to come to the rescue again.
The France icon narrowly missed the target with two curling shots early in the second half, but had the chance to score his first European goal when he converted the penalty after Dembele was fouled and confidently smashed it in from 12 yards.
Then Mbappe, wearing the national pomp, raised his head again, shot innocently towards Skorupski with goal in sight and the game should have ended there.
Deschamps looked relaxed on the touchline as France’s defence, searching for their fifth consecutive clean sheet since Chile’s Darro Osário scored in March, said they don’t always make you happy. Happiness of livingbut their impenetrable backline The best dish And often the best defense can get you to the end.
Before the advent of technology, Poland might well have won comfortably and secured top spot in the group, but VAR awarded a foul on Dayot Upamecano inside the penalty area, granting the wishes of thousands of Poles on the Yellow Wall – and we all know who got the ball.
Lewandowski arrived at the tournament exhausted after missing Poland’s opening group game with injury but looked the part of the 35-year-old veteran, drawing an early save from Maignan.
However, with Maignan adjudged to be too far from his goal-line, Lewandowski had another chance, this time taking the same corner kick but with more precision.
The Barcelona striker becomes just the third player to score four or more times at European Championships, after Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, and is also the only player to have scored in each of the last four tournaments.
Despite Deschamps’ revamped squad, there’s still time for Mbappe and France to miss opportunities. A tougher road to glory lies ahead. Their star player will have to do things the really hard way.
