The measured game between France and Belgium saw defender Joules Koundé named the player of the match. From the podium in the press room, the Barcelona right-back did not hesitate to join in the call to create a cordon sanitaire against the far right, as Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Thuram and Ousmane Dembélé had already called for in the two weeks leading up to the French legislative elections.
The victory on Sunday in the first round of the election of Jordan Bardella, candidate of the party headed by the ultra-nationalist Marine Le Pen, National Rally, did not please Koundé: “I was disappointed to see the direction France is taking, with a lot of support for a party that breaks the values of respect. I only urged people to vote. I think we must fight National Rally (RN) because it will cut back on freedoms and coexistence.”
Koundé, like his teammates before him, has avoided maintaining the neutrality recommended by Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation. For the second round of voting, the French internationals are likely to maintain their opposition to Le Pen’s RN.
Speaking about his performance, Koundé was full of praise. “It is the continuation of what I have done at Barcelona since the start of the season. It is clear that my vocation is defensive. But when there is space, I try to contribute as much as possible. Today was a good game, we knew that Doku was a winger who did not defend and we had space to attack him.”
On Belgium, Koundé said he was surprised by their approach: “I didn’t expect them to be so defensive. I think we controlled them tactically. I think we have players who can cause problems for opposing defences with players of the quality of Mbappé or Griezmann.”
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