'Fantastic leader' Kylian Mbappe praised by Didier Deschamps after scoring for France following Real Madrid move

In a dazzling display of skill and leadership, Mbappe led France to a 3-0 victory over Luxembourg in their international friendly on Wednesday evening. The 25-year-old star, fresh off his high-profile transfer to Real Madrid, set up Randal Kolo Muani for the opener and capped off his brilliant performance with a goal of his own in the 85th minute. This latest achievement brings Mbappe's involvement in international goals to an impressive figure of 80 in just 78 games.

Deschamps, the French national team manager, was effusive in his praise for Mbappe after the match. Speaking to French channel TF1, he said: "Kylian is the captain and a fantastic leader. I'm not going to go back over what happened, the exchanges we had and what he did. He knows why he's here and we're going to need him at his best. The fact that he played 90 minutes did him good, as did the work he put in. With what he represents, like Antoine [Griezmann] who is vice-captain, the others will follow."

Mbappe got limited opportunities at Paris Saint-Germain in his final couple of months at Parc des Princes which prompted Deschamps to keep him on the pitch for the entire match. The manager admitted that the player was frustrated due to his limited playtime at PSG but hailed his mental and physical resilience as he showed no signs of rust on the international stage.

"His head and body weren't used to playing so little. He lacked a bit of juice," Deschamps explained. "But he got it in his head that he was going to do everything to make up for his PSG frustration. It was a good example during the week."

The friendly against Luxembourg served as an important preparation for the upcoming Euro 2024 tournament. France's performance, while dominant, also provided Deschamps with insights into areas that need improvement.

"It's a good rehearsal for the work we've done," he said. "We're not going to get excited but there are some interesting things. I'm going to correct some positioning. But in the offensive animation, we had a lot of variety."

With less than a fortnight remaining before their Euro 2024 opener against Austria, France will be looking to fine-tune their strategies and build on the positive momentum from the Luxembourg match. The team's final warm-up friendly against Canada on Sunday will be another crucial test as they prepare to face tough competition in their group, which includes Netherlands and Poland.