Kylian Mbappe proved his critics wrong by scoring for France against Denmark (Image: GETTY)
Kylian Mbappe was accused of "not trying" before he scored twice for France against Denmark on Saturday. Former Wales striker Dean Saunders criticised the forward while commentating on the World Cup match at Stadium 974.
France went into their second match in Group D off the back of their 4-1 win over Australia on Tuesday. Mbappe scored once in that game to get the defending champions off to the perfect start.
Didier Deschamps made two changes to his starting XI, one of which was enforced with Theo Hernandez coming in for his injury-stricken brother Lucas. Mbappe unsurprisingly kept his place on the left of attack.
However, his performance in the opening stages of the match didn't go down well with Saunders. The Welshman was on co-commentary duty for talkSPORT and gave a savage verdict on Mbappe.
Saunders said: "Kylian Mbappe doesn’t look like he’s even trying. He’s not even jogging, he’s just walking and letting Denmark come out."
But Mbappe picked up his game as the first half progressed and was the main danger for Les Bleus. And on the hour mark, the deadlock was broken.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar drove towards the Denmark 18-yard box with speed. He played a one-two with Hernandez before slotting his strike past Kasper Schmeichel in the Dane's goal.
France were only briefly in the lead, however. Denmark struck back quickly through Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen, who headed in his third international goal.
But in the closing stages, Mbappe popped up with his second, bundling in an Antoine Griezmann cross. It was the 23-year-old's 31st goal in France colours in just his 61st cap. He is only 20 behind France's all-time mens' goalscoring record, which is jointly held by Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud.
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Kylian Mbappe scored his second and third goals of the World Cup for France against Denmark (Image: GETTY)
Former England legend Alan Shearer was co-commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live. And he was full of praise for Mbappe and his impact on the game.
On Mbappe' first goal, Shearer said: "What a goal - no surprise that it comes from the superstar Kylian Mbappe. He gets the ball in his own half and drives forward.
"He has the support from Theo Hernandez and he has a look around to say where are you? And puts it in Mbappe's path.
"What a goal - it was perfection. Little pass from Mbappe and he tucks it away past Kasper Schmeichel."
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