At 38 years and 289 days, Croatia’s Luka Modric has become the oldest player to score in the history of the European Championship when he scored in the 55^th minute in the last Euro 2024 Group B match with Italy.

He did that just after missing a penalty kick in the 54^th minute of the match played in Leipzig.

However, his heroic performance was not enough for Croatia as a goal, deep in the added time salvaged the game for Italy who tied the scores at 1-1 and advanced to the knockout stage.

Hitherto, games played on 24^th June had not been favourable for Italy since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

France captain Kylian Mbappe should be available for their second European Championship group game against the Netherlands after breaking his nose in their opening 1-0 win over Austria, manager Didier Deschamps said on Thursday.

The striker was injured in a collision with Austria’s Kevin Danso, and the 25-year-old forward took to social media to ask for help in finding a protective mask so he could face the Dutch in Group D on Friday.

“Everything is going in the right direction after this major shock he had, with the consequences, of course,” Deschamps told reporters.

“Yesterday, as you could see, he was able to go out and do some activity. That will be the case tonight too.

“So it has evolved in the right direction to ensure that he can be available tomorrow.”

Mbappe tried on the specially made mask on Thursday.

“Kylian Mbappe will be wearing a mask yes, you don’t really need to know the details about this mask,” Deschamps said.

“I think you’ve got enough moles to find out where these masks come from anyway.”

The French are willing to leave it as late as possible before deciding on whether Mbappe will start, just four days after his injury.

“Kylian is doing well. The swelling has come down on his nose,” France forward Antoine Griezmann said.

“We’ll see the last minute, depending on how he’s feeling.

If Mbappe is unable to play, Griezmann is confident the French side can cope with his absence.

“I think the entire team would have to adapt. I really don’t know if he’s going to be playing. Having one of the best players in the world on the pitch or not definitely changes things,” he said.

“But you always have to adapt to each match. And that’s what I really love to do. So it doesn’t matter what the technical choices are for tomorrow.”

For Deschamps, whether Mbappe plays or not does not change the way he approaches the game.

“I try to talk to the players who are going to start the game, and the players who are not going to start the game,” Deschamps said.

“We are a group. You need to manage the group. It was the same with the first match, the players who will start and those who will be on the bench.

“Everyone has to be ready. I don’t think it’s anything special.”

The Netherlands also won their opening game, coming from behind to beat Poland 2-1.

-Reuters

Kylian Mbappe’s teammates are hopeful he might yet be available for Friday’s European Championship clash against the Netherlands after suffering a broken nose on Monday.

France have made no announcement on their captain’s availability for their next match at the tournament in Germany but French media reports on Tuesday ruled him out of the encounter.

Both Adrien Rabiot and William Saliba, however, sounded an optimistic note at a press conference on Wednesday, not giving up hope Mbappe could play despite the fracture suffered late in the 1-0 win over Austria in Duesseldorf.

“I met him this morning, he was a little better. He had gone to do other tests. I don’t know more. But when I saw him this morning, he was better,” defender Saliba told reporters.

Rabiot highlighted the example of his Juventus teammate Wojciech Szczesny, the Poland goalkeeper who also suffered a broken nose in April.

“I don’t know exactly if it’s the same as Kylian. He had surgery the next day or two days later and he was available for the following match,” Rabiot recalled.

“That’s why when they told me about Kylian’s nose being broken, in my head it wasn’t so serious, because I told myself that he could be available quite quickly.”

But if Mbappe does not make it, Rabiot said France would still be confident of their chances against the Dutch, who won their opening match against Poland in Hamburg on Sunday.

“Of course, he’s a very important player and that will inevitably have an impact, particularly on the preparation of opposing teams, but we have an exceptional group,” insisted the midfielder.

“On the bench, we have more than enough means to replace Kylian. I have complete confidence in our quality on the bench.”

–Reuters