New dawn for France as Mbappé leads team

PARIS, March 23, (AP): New captain, new goalkeeper, new defense, new governance - and major players retired.

It seems like a new dawn for World Cup runner-up France as it begins European Championship qualifying without Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, and with Kylian Mbappé leading the team out at Stade de France against the Netherlands on Friday. Les Bleus then play Ireland in another Group B match at Dublin on Monday.

“The end of several players’ international careers means that the squad is younger,” said coach Didier Deschamps, who picked brothers Khéphren and Marcus Thuram in his first squad since last year’s World Cup. “Obviously we have less experience.”

The Thuram brothers are the sons of famed France defender Lilian Thuram, who played with Deschamps when France won the 1998 World Cup and its second European title in 2000. Their selection gives insight into how Deschamps plans to rebuild.

“We want to have answers for the future while remaining competitive,” he said. “Because our first two games are already difficult, so we have a degree of obligation.”

Forward Marcus Thuram, who played for France at the World Cup, is the elder brother of 21-year-old Nice midfielder Khéphren Thuram, who wants to win his first cap alongside his sibling.

“It’s always been my dream to play alongside him, whether in the back garden or at the highest level,” Khéphren said.

Mbappé, meanwhile, succeeds veteran goalkeeper Hugo Lloris as captain. Lloris and central defender Raphaël Varane retired from international soccer following the World Cup final defeat to Argentina last December.