Philadelphia: Kylian Mbappe has criticised Paraguay as “dirty” after France endured a frustrating outing against them in their World Cup last-16 tie.
He criticised Paraguay’s tactics as the South American outfit showed their ugly side, with Andres Cubas hacking down Adrien Rabiot, Juan Jose Caseras kicking Mbappe, and Gabriel Avalos elbowing Dayot Upamecano in the stomach, among other nasty incidents which went unnoticed.
No Paraguay player was booked while all three of Manu Kone, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola saw yellow for France, with Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev widely panned for his laissez-faire approach to officiating the game.
Mbappe said afterwards: “If we have to get our hands dirty, we will do it. We've shown we're not just a team that knows how to play attacking football.
“We know how to play ugly football. They [Paraguay] thought we'd show up in tuxedos, but we were ready. Even at that game, we were better than them.”
“That's their style of football - there's no right or wrong way to play the game. They tried to beat us that way, but we won.” Agencies
Also Read: ‘We Looked to Play, but the Opponent Just Defended’: Didier Deschamps After France Win