One – three.
So far, Kylian Mbappé has more face masks than goals in the European Championship.
There is a delay in his peripheral vision, says France's national team captain Didier Deschamps ahead of the quarterfinal against Portugal.
The stars' battle awaits at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on Friday.
On one side: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal.
On the other: Kylian Mbappé, France.
Two of the playoffs' biggest players struggling to score in Germany.
Sweat in the eyes
Ronaldo got a goal in the fourth match of the championship – but a goal that doesn't count in the statistics, as he scored Portugal's first goal in the penalty shootout in the round of 16 against Slovenia.
Mbappé – who has one goal, a penalty against Poland – has, apart from goal-scoring problems, another detail.
The 25-year-old has not found the right face mask since he broke his nose in the opening match against Austria.
In the round of 16, he used a third model.
We know that sweat can get into the eyes, so we have the sweat aspect. He's getting used to it, but it has affected his vision, says France's national team captain Didier Deschamps.
Everything straight ahead of him is fine, but there is a delay in his peripheral vision.
Kylian Mbappé initially got a custom-made face mask, which was in the French flag's colors. Since the European football association UEFA's rules only allow single-color protection, the striker switched to a black model in the group match against Poland.
New model against Belgium
For the round of 16, there was another updated protection; shaped after the face, more ventilation, and fewer straps.
Despite the changes, Mbappé continued to have problems.
He had five shots against Belgium – and missed all of them.
If the star finds the right one on Friday – protection as a goal – remains to be seen.
So far, France has managed without more goals from Mbappé, even though the team has had goal-scarce matches in the championship.
With three goals in four matches, the silver nation from the World Championship in Qatar is the worst of all teams in the quarterfinal.
