Euro 2024: France's Marcus Thuram calls captain Kylian Mbappe 'ninja turtle' | Read Why
French footballer Marcus Thuram
France player Marcus Thuram called national team captain Kylian Mbappe a 'ninja turtle' in response to a journalist's question. The incident happened at France's pre-match press conference ahead of their opening tie in the ongoing Euro 2024 against Austria on Monday (June 17).
A journalist mistook Thuram for Mbappe to which the former replied: “I’m more handsome than Kylian. I don’t look like a ninja turtle."
The comments, however, was made in good spirit and Thuram had no intention of disrespecting Mbappe. Have a look at the incident below:
The French footballer also urged the people of his country to vote in the upcoming National Assembly elections. French president Emmanuel macron announced snap elections in the country on Sunday (June 16) after National Rally party, known for anti-immigration stance, made huge gains in recently concluded European Parliament elections.
Thuram urged his fellow citizens to prevent the surge of far-right party in the upcoming elections.
“I think the situation is sad. It’s very serious,” Thuram said. “I learned about it after (Sunday’s friendly) match against Canada. We were all shocked in the dressing room. It’s the sad reality of our society today … As Ousmane said, we must tell everyone to go and vote. We all need to fight daily so that this doesn’t happen and that the National Rally (party) does not succeed.”
“I hope that everyone shares my opinion in the France team. I understand that some players can come here and just say people should vote, but I don’t think that’s enough, you have to also explain how we got here and the seriousness of the situation," he added.
As for Euro 2024, France are placed in Group D with Austria, Poland and Netherlands. After their match against Australia on Monday, they face Netherlands on June 22 and Poland on June 25.
