A furious Kylian Mbappe grabbed referee Michael Oliver’s watch to check how much time was left during France’s Nations League defeat to Spain.
The European champions came out on top in a 5-4 thriller in Stuttgart on Thursday night with Lamine Yamal again running the show.
The Barcelona sensation scored twice with Spain leading 5-1 with just over 20 minutes of the match remaining before France began mounting a comeback.
Rayan Cherki’s effort and an own goal from Dani Vivian had Les Blues back in the game before Randal Kolo Muani pulled another back three minutes into added time.
Oliver had added on five minutes at the end of the 90, blowing his whistle with the clock approaching 96 minutes after an extra goal was scored and a substitution was made in that allotted time.
With his side still chasing an equaliser, Mbappe angrily approached the Premier League referee at full-time, demanding to see his watch.
‘We are angry,’ the Real Madrid star TF1. ‘I didn’t agree with the referee about the actual playing time.
‘The problem is that it’s a recurring thing, but if I talk about it now, people will think I’m a hater, so I don’t want to talk about it.
‘It’s just that when there are five minutes (of added time), you have to play five minutes. It’s not five minutes that go by, it’s completely different.’
Mbappe added: ‘We’re pissed off, it’s normal because we wanted to win, we played with desire.
‘We really wanted to come back, but in the end we lost and we’re frustrated.’
Cherki masterclass almost rescues France
France will meet Germany in a third place play-off on Sunday with Spain set to meet Portugal in the final later that evening.
Cherki made his debut off the bench after replacing Michael Olise after 63 minutes, playing a key role in the French fightback.
The Lyon star, who confirmed post-match he is on the brink of joining Manchester City, netted a stunning half-volley, provided the cross that resulted in Vivian’s own goal and laid on the assist for Muani’s late effort.
‘I’m not someone who dreads matches, I take them as they come,’ Cherki said. ‘I knew that when I came on, there would be a lot of space. I came on to give good balls to my teammates.
‘On an individual level, we don’t really care. We’re disappointed with what happened tonight.’
