Kylian Mbappé scored the first goal of the Zinédine Zidane era with France, but the moment that should have marked a new beginning instead set off alarm bells in France and sent the sound all the way to Real Madrid. The striker felt pain in his left knee during the match against Turkey and had to leave the pitch before he could finish the job he had just started.
The incident came directly out of the goal itself. Mbappé received the ball on the left edge of the box, drew back his leg and connected with the shot that opened the scoring. The damage was done in his left leg — the one carrying his weight at the moment he struck the ball. As he made contact, he produced a small jump as a reflex action, and when he began to run towards his celebration he stopped immediately instead.
The medical staff of Les Bleus were quickly on the pitch to carry out an initial examination. Mbappé tried to carry on, but as soon as he returned and tested himself with an initial run he went back down to the ground and asked to be substituted. His gestures of pain, at one point covering his face, reflected a certain concern. Désiré Doué came on in his place.
The worry is sharpened by history. Mbappé was already forced to stop last season because of problems in this same left knee, and he did so on two occasions — a situation complicated by the fact that it emerged the first examination by the medical staff had not been carried out on the knee that was actually affected.
There was already concern around the French camp before kick-off, with Konaté having left the training camp. Now the attention turns to the condition of Mbappé’s left knee, and to Real Madrid, where the sound of that alarm is being heard.