Tchouaméni’s proud to lead France against Israel in Nations League in Mbappé's absence

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Real Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni said he will captain France “with a lot of pride” in its Nations League game against Israel in the absence of Kylian Mbappé.

The 24-year-old Tchouaméni wants to be a leader “who brings people together” but is not interested in turning the captaincy into a popularity contest.

“To be approved by everyone. What does that mean? Obviously within teams there are some people you get on better with others, the important thing is to respect each other,” he said at a pre-match news conference in Budapest. “Some people are liked by everyone in a dressing room, some are less popular. It’s the same as in any business.”

Tchouaméni has made 36 appearances for France and brings his experience to a team lacking its biggest star.

“I chose him because I think he has the profile to handle this responsibility,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “Even though he’s still young, he took part in the last World Cup and the last European Championship.”

Mbappé, France’s usual captain, is nursing a minor thigh injury in Madrid.

“I spoke with Kylian last night, but we didn’t really talk much about the captaincy,” Tchouaméni said. “We spoke more about other things.”

Mbappé's absence from the France team raised questions since he still played for Madrid last weekend. Deschamps accepted the situation given that the club is Mbappé’s employer.

“Clubs have always had this power,” Deschamps said, adding that clubs in general are becoming more “attentive,” given the volume of games that their players must play.

“I don’t want to put players in conflict with their clubs,” Deschamps added.

When asked, Tchouaméni assured that Madrid did not ask him to pull out of playing for France.

“That’s not the case,” he said. “People can interpret things how they like, but all I can say is that there is not a form of pressure from within the club.”

France is also without vice-captain Antoine Griezmann, who surprisingly announced the end of his international career last month after scoring 44 goals in 137 matches.

Griezmann and Mbappé helped lead France to the 2018 World Cup title and were coach Deschamps’ most influential players in recent years, along with midfielder Paul Pogba, central defender Raphaël Varane and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Varane, Lloris and Olivier Giroud — France’s all-time leading scorer with 57 goals — have all retired from the national team. Tchouaméni compared it to a generation ending but said the time was ripe for “a new generation to emerge.”

Deschamps said that forward Marcus Thuram was doubtful to play any part against Israel after hurting his right ankle when playing for Inter Milan last weekend.

Thuram scored a hat trick for the defending Italian champion in a 3-2 win against Torino, but had to go off midway through the second half after being hurt by a late tackle.

Italy has a three-point lead over France and Belgium in their Nations League group after two rounds. France plays Israel on Thursday and travels to Belgium four days later.

A young Deschamps played in midfield when France lost a World Cup qualifier 3-2 at home to Israel in 1993 and subsequently failed to qualify for the World Cup.

A reporter asked Deschamps what he remembered about the match, which he also reminded Deschamps was Israel’s finest moment in soccer.

“Thank you,” Deschamps responded dryly, before adding that “it was far from the happiest” moment in his career as he watched the 1994 World Cup from his living room.