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Topics: Kylian Mbappe, France, Spain, UEFA Nations League
Jack Kenmare
Topics: Kylian Mbappe, France, Spain, UEFA Nations League
Kylian Mbappe has made his feelings clear on referee Michael Oliver's controversial decision in the final stages of Thursday's exhilarating Nations League semi-final clash between France and Spain.
Spain will face Portugal in the Nations League final on Sunday night after goals from Nico Williams, Mikel Merino, Lamine Yamal [2] and Pedri sealed an extraordinary 5-4 win over Didier Deschamps' side at the MHP Arena, Stuttgart.
It was the highest-scoring match in the competition's history. Spain took a 5-1 lead after just 67 minutes but in a dramatic twist, they managed to survive a late scare as France scored three late goals to put the pressure on.
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Randal Kolo Muani managed to reduce the deficit to one goal in the 93rd minute but, much to the annoyance of Kylian Mbappe, referee Michael Oliver's lack of added time stopped the French from trying to find an equaliser.
In fact, shortly after the final whistle, Mbappe could be seen grabbing Oliver's wrist to look at how much time was left on his watch – an incident that soon went viral on social media.
Speaking in his post-match interview, as per beIN Sports, Mbappe opened up on the full-time incident involving Oliver, as well their performance in the Nations League semi-final clash.
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"In the heat of the moment, I'd say we played well," Mbappe began. "We had some stretches of play we haven't had for a while.
"We had a 10-minute gap in the first half, and we conceded two goals, and the same thing in the second half. We weren't consistent over the 90 minutes, but we did get better.
"It's no excuse, we're top-level players. But it's not all negative. We're p***** off, that's for sure. We're frustrated."
He added: "I didn't agree with the referee about the actual playing time, but if I talk about it, people will think I'm angry. When there are five minutes [stoppage time], you have to play for five minutes."
France manager Didier Deschamps also gave his assessment of Thursday's dramatic game in Germany.
"It's a mixture of feelings. At the end of the first half, it's harsh to be down 2-0 because we had a lot of chances," he said. "We were down 5-1, but we didn't give up. We can't throw everything away; we did a lot of good things. We had better control than this Spanish team.
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"If we concede five goals, it's because we can do better defensively, but it's frustrating. As soon as they have a chance, they are often very effective.
"The quality of the opposition leads to mistakes, but when there are goals, we can always do better. I'm not going to blame just the defenders because they found themselves one-on-one.
"I don't want to condemn [Ibrahima] Konate, [Clement] Lenglet or [Pierre] Kalulu, but when you have three players who have played every game in recent years, even just in terms of automatisms, it doesn't happen with the snap of a finger."
Deschamps added: "They had everyone, and we were superior to them in the game. It's a very high level and, given the youth of the squad, it will serve us well."