First Dembelè, then Marcus Thuram and finally Kylian Mbappè: France is thinking about the European Championships but seems to have the recent “Europeans” in mind. The recent elections which saw the important victory of the right of Marine Le Pen and which pushed President Macron to dissolve the national assembly and call an early vote.
Mbappé joins the chorus
Kylian Mbappé is undoubtedly the most representative player and most awaited in this France which is preparing for its European debut against Austria tomorrow at 9pm. But at the moment in the players’ minds there is not only tomorrow’s match but also the political situation within the country and the striker, now ex-PSG, also wants to send his message.
“I want to address all French people and in particular the young generations. We see that extremists are at the gates of power and we have the opportunity to change everything – said Mbappe – We are at a crucial moment in the country’s history. You have to know how to fix things and know the priorities. We are citizens first and foremost, we must not be disconnected from the world. We find ourselves in an unprecedented situation. I hope that my voices reach as far as possible, we must identify with the values of tolerance, respect and diversity”.
Thuram’s message
Yesterday he was the Inter striker, Marcus Thuramto speak on what is happening in the country and to launch his appeal: “The situation is very serious – declared the French player – We need to fight and I hope that all my teammates think like me. I don’t think it’s enough to say that we have to go and vote. We also need to understand how we got to this point”.
France: a collective stance
Before the European Championship it was Ousmane Dembele to raise his voice on the matter, now all his teammates are starting to align with his position. The technical commissioner Didier Deschamps himself invited everyone to go and vote. A particularly delicate situation experienced firsthand by the Blues players: French multi-ethnicity has always been considered a source of pride for a national team that has won a lot over the years but has always had to deal with a very complicated reality. The “suburbs” in which many players also grew up Deschamps national team they remain a powder keg and the political situation risks being a fuse to a situation of inequality that has never been resolved and perhaps never truly addressed.
