PARIS
\nKylian Mbappe marked his first game as France captain on Friday with two goals and an assist as the World Cup finalists romped to a 4-0 win against a depleted Netherlands side in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Paris.
\nMbappe has succeeded long-standing France skipper Hugo Lloris and the new era got off to a flying start as the Paris Saint-Germain superstar set up the pink-haired Antoine Greimann to score inside two minutes.
\nDayot Upamecano bundled in the second goal in the eighth minute and Mbappe got his name on the scoresheet to make it 3-0 before the midway point in the first half.
\nMbappe wrapped up the victory in emphatic fashion with two minutes remaining, before the Netherlands\u2019 Memphis Depay had a stoppage-time penalty saved by goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
\nIt was a display of ruthless efficiency from Didier Deschamps\u2019 side against a Dutch team missing several key players after a virus swept through their squad.
\nThey can at least console themselves in the knowledge that their toughest assignment in qualifying Group B is out of the way and their next game is at home to Gibraltar on Monday.
\nThe French now head to Dublin to play the Republic of Ireland, but it is going to take something remarkable for them to fail to qualify for next year\u2019s Euro given the top two teams in each group go through.
\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to disappoint our fans. This was our first game back here after the World Cup and we really wanted to pick up where we left off there, except for the final,\u201d Mbappe told broadcaster TF1.
\nOf his own game, Mbappe added: \u201cI try to do my job, be decisive and bring everyone else with me. It worked well today but this is just the beginning so let\u2019s not get carried away.\u201d
\nThere were four changes to Deschamps\u2019 team compared to the World Cup final, with Lloris and centre-back Raphael Varane having retired — they were honoured on the Stade de France pitch before kick-off — while Ousmane Dembele is injured, and Olivier Giroud started on the bench.
\nIn came AC Milan\u2019s Maignan in goal and Liverpool\u2019s Ibrahima Konate in central defence, while Kingsley Coman and Randal Kolo Muani made their starts, two players who came off the bench in the Doha final.
\nThe Netherlands, with Ronald Koeman back for a second spell as coach, were without Cody Gakpo, Matthijs de Ligt, Sven Botman, Denzel Dumfries and Frenkie de Jong for a variety of reasons.
\nFrance simply blew them away in an astonishing start.
\nMbappe has promised to play a unifying role for his country after taking over the armband, although he also admitted that Griezmann was disappointed at being overlooked for the captaincy by Deschamps.
\nUsually when Mbappe gets the ball on the left side of the box and then he shapes to shoot towards the far corner.
\nThat he did not in the second minute was telling, as he instead chose to play a square pass for the arriving Griezmann to finish first-time.
\nGriezmann, reprising the midfield role he operated so remarkably at the World Cup, then set up the second.
\nHis whipped free-kick from the right was not properly dealt with by Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, and Bayern Munich defender Upamecano was left with an easy finish.
\nThere was a touch of real class about the third goal as Kolo Muani\u2019s decision not to touch Aurelien Tchouameni\u2019s through ball completely did for the Netherlands defence and left Mbappe through to beat the goalkeeper.
\nFrance were 3-0 up with barely 30 percent possession, and Koeman made a substitution before half-time, replacing Ajax midfielder Kenneth Taylor with Manchester United target man Wout Weghorst.
\nOnly a fine Cillessen save from a Konate header stopped France from scoring again before the break, and substitute Moussa Diaby then had a goal disallowed late on.
\nHowever, Mbappe sealed the win two minutes from time, pouncing on a loose ball before firing a shot through the legs of Jurrien Timber and into the bottom corner.
\nThe evening concluded with Maignan stopping Depay\u2019s penalty, which had been awarded for an Upamecano handball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS Kylian Mbappe marked his first game as France captain on Friday with two goals and an assist as the World Cup finalists romped to a 4-0 win against a depleted Netherlands side in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Paris. Mbappe has succeeded long-standing France skipper Hugo Lloris and the new era got off to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-321895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n