Kylian Mbappe almost quit France national team after Euro 2020 penalty miss – now he’s returning ahead of potential blockbuster Real Madrid transfer
Kylian Mbappe is ready to right the wrongs of 2021.
Mbappe might be forgiven for feeling a little deja vu ahead of the Euros this summer with the weight of a nation's expectations on his shoulders yet again - and Real Madrid lurking in the background.
France are at Euro 2024 as one of the favourites after their World Cup 2022 final appearance, where Mbappe grabbed a thrilling hat-trick.
And he will be desperate to exorcise the memory of their miserable exit at Euro 2020 in one of the tournament's most pulsating matches.
In the first knockout round after a 3-3 draw in Bucharest, Switzerland emerged victorious against the then-World Cup champions after Yann Sommer saved Mbappe's penalty in dramatic circumstances.
Karim Benzema had equalised for France just before the hour mark to cancel out Haris Seferovic's early strike before scoring again two minutes later.
Paul Pogba then let loose from distance to plant the ball into the top corner before the Swiss two late goals from Seferovic and Mario Gavranovic sent the match to penalties.
Switzerland had scored all five of their spot-kicks before the French golden boy stepped up to take Les Bleus' decisive penalty to send the game to sudden death.
But fans were left shocked when the Paris Saint-Germain star hit his effort somewhat tamely to his left, allowing Sommer to pull off a spectacular save and defeat the hot favourites to win the entire tournament.
Mbappe looked heartbroken, having won the World Cup with France just three years before where he became the second teenager ever after the legendary Brazil striker Pele to score in the final.
What followed was despicable, though, with the Frenchman revealing he nearly quit international football after receiving torrents of racist abuse.
In October 2021, he said: "I received the message, that my ego was what made us lose, that I wanted to take up too much space, and that without me, therefore, we might have won
"The most important thing is the French national team and if the French national team is happier without me, [I'll go].
"I met with the president and we talked about it. What I went to complain to him about was that I was insulted and called a 'monkey' for missing a penalty.
"That is not the same thing. I will never complain about a penalty. The penalty, I was the one who missed it."
The summer of 2021 did not stop for Mbappe there, though, as Real Madrid began their frontal assault for his signature from PSG, making a jaw-dropping bid of €200million (£171m) on deadline day.
The fee would have made him the second-most expensive player of all time after Neymar, who joined PSG from Barcelona for £200m in August 2017.
PSG turned down the money despite the forward being out of contract the following summer as they believed that he would pen a new contract, a premonition that looked audacious at the time - but would turn out to be true.
At the time, PSG director Leonardo even admitted that Mbappe wanted to leave and was desperate to join Real Madrid.
However, fast-forward 12 months and the Paris-born superstar had penned his short-term future to the Ligue 1 giants - signing a lucrative two-year contract extension worth nearly £1m a week.
It only appeared to put off the inevitable - that a move to Madrid was forthcoming eventually - and that PSG had battened down the hatches with shoestrings.
It has led us to this moment in time, on the crux of another European Championship and another transfer saga in the summer of 2024.
Meanwhile, he's also on the cusp of Champions League glory.
In 2021, Man City ended his dream at the semi-final stage and, once again, he finds himself in the final four.
This time, though, City are out, and Borussia Dortmund are standing in their way of a final berth.
And if successful, the football gods appear to have created an outrageous scenario which could even see Mbappe face Real Madrid in the final on June 1.
Now aged 25, Mbappe has experienced more than most players will ever get close to in a lifetime, and the memories of Bucharest will be as vivid as ever in Germany this summer.
This time, though, he can right those wrongs of 2021 - by winning the Champions League, leading France to glory at the Euros and finally signing for Real Madrid.
Kylian Mbappe is ready to right the wrongs of 2021. Mbappe might be forgiven for feeling a little deja vu ahead of the Euros this summer with the weight of a nation’s expectations on his shou…
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