Dressing-room footage has revealed what Kylian Mbappe and Didier Deschamps said at half-time during France’s World Cup final defeat by Argentina.
France were 2-0 down at the break after goals by Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria had put their opponents in control of the game. But Mbappe led the French resistance in the second half with two goals inside two minutes to set up a dramatic conclusion.
Video released by TF1 shows the 23-year-old Mbappe standing to urgently address his teammates.
“It’s the World Cup final, guys, it’s the match of our lives! We can’t do any worse than how we played,” Mbappe says. “Now we go back on to the pitch, we must pull it off. Either we let them play us like idiots or we get stuck in, put some intensity in our duels and change things, guys.”
He adds: “It’s a World Cup final. They scored two goals, we are behind two goals. We can come back! F**k guys, this is only every four years.”
Deschamps also spoke bluntly to his players. “You’re not with it guys! You’re not getting to any second ball. The difference is they are playing like it’s a World Cup final, and you are not.”
The match eventually went Argentina’s way, but not before Mbappe had completed his hat-trick and scored the opening goal of the penalty shootout.
Mbappe returned to training with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday ahead of the resumption of their Ligue 1 season on 28 December, while his PSG teammate Lionel Messi continues to celebrate at home in Argentina.
