France strikers Kylian Mbappé and Randal Kolo Muani continued their rich vein of form over the weekend to stake their claim in Didier Deschamps' starting line-up for the national team in the quarter-finals of the Nations League against Croatia next month.
Deschamps was without the services of Mbappé during the side's last sorties against Israel and Italy for the final games in their Group 2 campaign in November.
Kolo Muani featured in the team that began the games in Saint-Denis and Milan but failed to hit the target.
At the time, the 26-year-old cut a forlorn figure as he dawdled on the bench at Paris Saint-Germain. Coach Luis Enrique often preferred to play a formation in which a midfielder surged into the centre forward position rather than deploying a target man at spearhead.
A move on loan in January to Juventus in Italy has re-energised the forward.
He notched up five goals in his opening three games to become the first player to achieve the feat since Roberto Baggio in 1990. His assist for Francisco Conceição's winner on Sunday night over Inter took Juve into the positions offering a berth in next season's Champions League.
Mbappé's 11th goal since the beginning of January in Real Madrid's 1-1 draw at Osasuna on Saturday allowed him to become the first Madrid player to score 25 goals in all competitions in his first season at the club since Cristiano Ronaldo unleashed such pyrotechnics in 2009/10.
Ronaldo went on to finish with 33 in 35 games in all competitions.
Deschamps said Mbappé, who had to deal with poor form at the start of his Madrid career and allegations in December of raping a woman while he was on holiday in Stockholm, would be back in the squad.
Attachment
“He is very attached to the French team, even if he had a complicated period,” said Deschamps who spoke during his interview with the French sports newspaper L'Equipe about his successor.
Former striker Zinedine Zidane was touted as a candidate when the French football federation (FFF) reappointed Deschamps after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Just over two years on, Zidane remains a contender even though he has not worked as a manager since leaving Madrid in May 2021.
"There is a lot of respect between us," said Deschamps who was Zidane's skipper in the France teams that claimed the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European championships.
“Zizou [Zidane] is a very good candidate, a natural and an expected one,” Deschamps told L’Équipe. “But then again, I don’t know if he will want it.”
Zidane's appointment will also depend on the FFF. Philippe Diallo, who replaced Noël Le Graët in January 2023, has promised to make the outfit more transparent and diverse.
Deschamps, 55, announced last month that he wanted to quit after the 2026 World Cup.
After taking over from former France teammate Laurent Blanc in 2012, Deschamps guided France to the final of the 2016 European championships where they were beaten by Portugal.
Two years later in Russia, France swept past Croatia 4-2 to claim their second world crown and enable Deschamps to join Mario Zagallo from Brazil and the German Franz Beckenbauer as the only men to have won the World Cup as a player and as a coach.
“I am not tired or worn out," Deschamps said. "But I feel that I have done my time. The French team is a very good thing, because it represents 25 years of my professional life when I combine my two lives.
"But all good things must come to an end."
Before becoming France boss, Deschamps steered the Ligue 1 club Monaco to the 2004 Champions League final and he led Marseille to the French domestic title in 2010 – their last success in the top flight before Paris Saint-Germain's domination.
"There are plenty of possibilities," said Deschamps of a return to club management in France or internationally. "I will decide based on what is offered to me."
(With newswires)
