Soccer-Any ideas for a mask? Mbappe contacts rugby captain Dupont


Soccer Football - Euro 2024 - Group D - Austria v France - Dusseldorf Arena Dusseldorf Germany - June 17 2024 Frances Kylian Mbappe walks off the pitch sustaining an injury after being substituted as Youssouf Fofana takes his armband REUTERSBernadett Szabo

Soccer Football - Euro 2024 - Group D - Austria v France - Dusseldorf Arena, Dusseldorf, Germany - June 17, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe walks off the pitch sustaining an injury after being substituted as Youssouf Fofana takes his armband REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - Kylian Mbappe’s chances of playing for France against the Netherlands at the European Championship remain unclear, but if he does make it to the pitch in Leipzig, he will wear a protective mask after breaking his nose on Monday.

France’s captain suffered the fracture late in the Group D clash with Austria in Duesseldorf on Monday, after jumping for a header and colliding with the shoulder of defender Kevin Danso.

Mbappe was taken to hospital but the French federation said he did not require immediate surgery and will get a mask, prompting social media banter with France rugby skipper Antoine Dupont.

Dupont had surgery after fracturing a cheek bone in the early stages of last year’s Rugby World Cup in France -- a more serious injury that Mbappe’s nasal septum fracture -- but the scrumhalf was back training within a fortnight and returned to play in the World Cup quarter-final.

He had a specially fitted mask made but in the end wore only a scrum cap in his return match.

"Any ideas for a mask?," Mbappe tweeted Dupont on X on Tuesday.

"Private message me for a promo code. I have some solutions. Above all, good luck," Dupont replied.

Leveraging the Asean chair for progress

Mbappe’s obvious replacement would be 37-year-old Olivier Giroud. He suffered an adductor injury in the Austria match, French media reported, but should resume training on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ed Osmond)

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