Kylian Mbappé says he and Antoine Griezmann ‘suffered a lot’ during international break | OneFootball

The September international break was the last time that we saw either Kylian Mbappé (26) or Antoine Griezmann (33) in a France shirt. We won’t see the latter feature for Les Bleus again after he announced his international retirement in the wake of that international break.

We will, however, see Mbappé again. The France captain was absent from the last two international breaks, despite being fit. Didier Deschamps has now recalled the Real Madrid forward, who also retains the armband, despite his non-injury-related period of absence.

Deschamps was never clear why Mbappé was not selected, although the France manager stated later that his captain was in a “difficult situation” and “going through a period that is not the happiest in his career”. He also suggested that Mbappé perhaps wasn’t in the right frame of mind during the September international break.

Speaking to Le Parisien, Mbappé has confirmed this with the same ringing true for Griezmann. “That international break was difficult for both of us. We suffered a lot,” he said, referencing a “lack of gratitude” and stating that he believed the pair had been “designated guilty for things that they weren’t guilty of.”

Griezmann explained retirement decision to Mbappé

Mbappé added that he knows why Griezmann opted to retire from international football. The France captain revealed that Griezmann broached the topic before the break before the pair then discussed it at Clairefontaine. However, the former Paris Saint-Germain forward refused to disclose the reasoning behind Griezmann’s surprise decision.

He did nonetheless confirm that there is no rift between the pair. Mbappé and Griezmann live close to each other in Madrid but reports in Spain reported that they rarely see each other. The Real Madrid forward responded, “With Antoine, I can assure you that there is a very good relationship. He has already invited me to his house plenty of times for a barbeque. But in Madrid, it is impossible to do that before a two-legged tie (between Real Madrid and Griezmann’s club, Atletico Madrid). We haven’t managed to do it yet but for sure we will manage to. We live next to each other, in the same residence,” said Mbappé.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle