PHILADELPHIA, July 5 — France captain Kylian Mbappé said his team were prepared to do “whatever it takes” to progress at the World Cup after edging past Paraguay 1-0 in a tense last-16 clash yesterday.
PHILADELPHIA, July 5 — France captain Kylian Mbappé said his team were prepared to do “whatever it takes” to progress at the World Cup after edging past Paraguay 1-0 in a tense last-16 clash yesterday.
Mbappé scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 70th minute, taking his tournament tally to seven and his overall World Cup total to 19 goals. He also endured constant provocation from Paraguayan defenders in the sweltering Philadelphia heat.
“We knew what sort of match we were in for, but I think today went really well,” Mbappé said.
“They thought we’d turn up in tuxedos, that we’d just come to pull off some spectacular moves,” he added.
“But we know how to play the dirty game too. And we did that today; we won, and even in that respect we were better than them.”
The Real Madrid forward stressed that France were not limited to attacking football alone.
“If we have to get our hands dirty, we’ll get our hands dirty. Sorry for the expression, but we’ve no problem with that,” he said.
The match was a scrappy affair that produced only three yellow cards, all shown to France by referee Ilgiz Tantashev of Uzbekistan. Tensions flared before Mbappé’s penalty, with players from both sides clashing as Paraguay attempted to disrupt the spot.
“That’s their football, that’s their way of playing,” the 27-year-old said. “Everyone plays to their strengths; there’s no right or wrong way. There’s only one way, and that’s to win.
“They tried to get the better of us that way, but we got the better of them too. Now we move on to the next stage.”
France will face Morocco in the quarter-finals in Boston next Thursday, in a repeat of the 2022 semi-final, which France won 2-0.
“We know they’re a very good team, and we’re really looking forward to it,” Mbappé added. “We’ll give everything to keep going forward.” — AFP
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