There's a new era for French soccer as Kylian Mbappe was recently named the new captain of the France national team.
Ahead of Euro 2024 qualifying, France coach Didier Deschamps named Mbappe the new skipper on Monday following the international retirements of Hugo Lloris and Raphael Varane.
While Mbappe was in high spirits arriving at Clairefontaine, the national team's headquarters in south Paris, Antoine Griezmann cut a different figure as per ESPN's Julien Laurens.
In fact, the Atletico Madrid man was said to be fuming in private over Deschamps' decision as he had a real belief he would be the one to lead France going forward. Instead, he is now vice-captain to Mbappe, who is notably eight years his junior.
While there's no doubt that Mbappe is the best player on the team (his World Cup final showing is enough proof of that), the best player doesn't necessarily always captain a team. Griezmann, who recently turned 32, is now one of the senior members in the team with 117 caps (compared to Mbappe's 66) while he also has a strong bond with Deschamps.
Add in the fact that he had a stellar World Cup and is in good form for Atletico, it's understandable that Griezmann has been hurt by the snub.
When it all comes down to it, Laurens believes the decision was made to appease the more indispensable Kylian Mbappe — it would be much easier for Deschamps to break the news to Griezmann rather than the former.
All that said, it won't affect Griezmann's status going forward. He is expected to feature when France play against the Netherlands on Friday before a Monday encounter against the Republic of Ireland.
Whether it affects his performances on the field is another matter entirely, though.
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