France coach Didier Deschamps is hopeful that Kylian Mbappe will be fit to play in Friday's Euro 2024 clash with the Netherlands, stating that the star striker is making good progress in his recovery from a broken nose.
"Everything is going well. It was a heavy collision that he had, but he was able to come out and train yesterday and take part in some activities," Deschamps told reporters in Leipzig on the eve of the Group D encounter. "That will be the case this evening too. Things are progressing in the right direction enough for us to try to have him available tomorrow. We will do what we can to have him available."
Shortly after Deschamps' remarks, Mbappe participated in the French team's training session wearing a protective face mask in the French colors of blue, white, and red. The 25-year-old France captain suffered the injury in an accidental collision with Austria defender Kevin Danso during France's 1-0 win in their opening game of the tournament in Duesseldorf on Monday.
Mbappe trained separately from his teammates on Wednesday while wearing a plaster on his nose and did not seem overly hindered by the injury. The French Football Federation had previously stated that Mbappe would not require surgery and could return to play once fitted with a mask.
Teammate Antoine Griezmann assured reporters that Mbappe was "doing really well," adding, "The nose is a bit less swollen. We will wait until the last moment and see how he is feeling."
Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman indicated that his team's preparations would not be significantly affected by the uncertainty surrounding Mbappe's availability. "Deschamps will know if Mbappe will play or not, we will just have to wait and see," Koeman said. "France is such a strong team -- even if Mbappe is not playing his replacement will be a great player as well."
Koeman added, "We can't influence this, all we can do is influence our team and do the best that we can, and not everything depends on whether Mbappe is there or not. We know that he can be a game changer."
The Netherlands came from behind to beat Poland 2-1 in their opening match, and Koeman expressed confidence in his team's ability to rise to the occasion against France. "I can't predict everything but I have a good feeling, this match is a challenge," Koeman continued. "Three points against Poland give us a bit of breathing space, we can be calm now. We want to get a good result, it's a challenge for us now and we need to be good. I'm really looking forward to it."
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