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France captain Kylian Mbappe has heaped praise on Spain following their rousing 3-0 win over Croatia in their Euro 2024 Group B opener on Saturday (June 15) in Berlin. All three goals came in the first half.
La Roja captain Alvaro Morata broke the deadlock in the 29th minute before Fabian Ruiz doubled their advantage three minutes later. Veteran right-back Dani Carvajal netted his first goal for the three-time European champions in the second minute of first-half stoppage time to put the result beyond doubt.
Mbappe - who will play for Real Madrid next season - has waxed lyrical about La Roja's quality (as per Madrid Xtra):
“Spain NT? They’re a great team. They showed it against Croatia. Even before the match vs Croatia, I knew they were good.”
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Les Bleus open their campaign against Austria in Dusseldorf on Monday (June 17). A win will take them level with early Group D pacesetters Netherlands, who recorded a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win over Poland on Sunday in Hamburg.
Mbappe and Co. are seeking their third European Championship title and first since beating Italy 2-1 in extra time in the Euro 2000 final.
How has Kylian Mbappe fared for France at the Euros?
Kylian Mbappe is one of the best strikers of his generation, having scored a record 256 goals during seven prolific seasons at PSG. He has also been effective for France, netting an impressive 47 times in 79 games.
However, none of those goals have come at the European Championship. In four games at Euro 2020, the then PSG striker went scoreless in four games despite playing 90 minutes in all three group games and 120 in the shootout defeat to Switzerland.
In fact, after nine successive spot-kicks, Mbappe's miss eliminated France from the competition. The striker, though, would make amends with a fabulous eight-goal campaign at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. That includes a hat-trick against eventual champions Argentina, which Les Bleus lost on penalties, where Mbappe scored.
