Newly-anointed France skipper Kylian Mbappé launched his tenure with a brace in a 4-0 rout of the Netherlands on Friday night at the Stade de France.
Mbappé, preferred to veteran midfielder Antoine Griezmann for the armband following the retirement of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, set up Griezmann for the opener in the Euro 2024 Group B qualifier after less than three minutes of play.
It was the 32-year-old’s 43rd goal for his country.
Six minutes later, Griezmann turned provider. His free kick from the right wing caused sufficient havoc in the Dutch defence for Dayot Upamecano to stab the ball into the net to make it 2-0
The Netherlands – who reached the last eight at the World Cup in Qatar – enjoyed a spell in which they began to string together passes. Classic Dutch stuff. Even though they were missing five players due to a virus in the camp.
But for all the neat and tidy passing, there was no end product. Georginio Wijnaldum missed his kick with only France goalkeeper Mike Maignan to beat and Wijnaldum's shot from the edge of the box lacked sufficient power to pass Maignan.
Punishment
Midway through the half, the Dutch paid the price for their lack of precision.
Aurélien Tchouaméni strode through midfield and rolled the ball forward through the spaces in the Dutch lines for Mbappé who collected the pass and slotted past the goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.
It was his 37th goal for his country and his first as skipper.
From then, it was a procession for France.
Ronald Koeman, who took over after the World Cup from Louis van Gaal, could not orchestrate a comeback.
His players at least staved off a humiliation. Cillessen got down well to push Ibrahima Konate's header out for a corner
And Cillessen was fortunate Randal Kolo Muani volleyed over the bar following a counter attack.
End
Mbappé's second goal in the 88th minute appeared to have provided the perfect end to the theatrics.
But the skipper was upstaged.
Upamecano was penalised for handling in the penalty area but Maignan, who took over from Lloris, saved Memphis Depay's spot kick.
At the final whistle, the players surged towards Maignan.
"We prepared ourselves by saying that we could not disappoint the public for this first game at the Stade de France after the World Cup," Mbappé told French broadcaster TF1.
"I continue to do my job, to help the team, to be decisive," added the 24-year-old whose second goal moved him up to fifth in the France scoring chart past Karim Benzema's mark of 37.
The victory allowed France to take top spot following Greece's 3-0 win in Gibraltar.
On Monday in Group B, the Netherlands host Gibraltar and the Republic of Ireland entertain France in Dublin.
"We had a very good start where we were very efficient," said France boss Didider Deschamps.
"To have been 3-0 up after 20 minutes is no small feat. And that allowed us to manage the second period.
"I will wait to see the state of form of everyone before deciding who will play in Dublin.
"We'll have another fight on Monday night."
