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Leeds United defender Rasmus Kristensen gets poor rating after World Cup display v France
Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet has suggested that Leeds United defender Rasmus Kristensen had a “hard time” on the pitch against Kylian Mbappe.
Denmark lost 2-1 against France in the World Cup game on Saturday (26 November), where Kristensen really struggled to keep the French wingers in check, and Mbappe, who scored twice, in particular.
In the sports section of the newspaper (27 November, page 4), the players were rated where 2 signifies only a “pass mark”. None of the players scored over 3, which suggests the Danish press was far from impressed with the performance.
“He faces a player who is among the top three in the world in a direct duel and is having a hard time,” wrote the newspaper.
“Really hard. Therefore, it is also a 2 – number with a down arrow. Nissen also did not succeed offensively, and defensively he is overmatched against Mbappé who played with a huge profit.”
Tough
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Mbappe was absolutely terrific on the night as France became the first team to reach the knockout stages of the competition.
When the scoreline was 1-1, Mbappe got the better of Kristensen and moved at the back post to get on the end of an Antoine Griezmann cross from which he scored.
Graeme Souness, who was commenting on the game for ITV (26 November, 5.23pm), was far from impressed and blamed the defender for ball-watching.
It appeared that Kristensen got switched off for a while, and Mbappe was quick to react and punish Denmark.
The Frenchman is one of the best attacking forwards in the world, and he was in a different mood last night. Kristensen really had a tough night against him, he did lose track of him for the crucial second goal.
With this result, Denmark are facing an early exit. They drew their opening game 0-0 against Australia, and need a victory against Tunisia in the final group game to have any chance of qualifying.
In other Leeds United news, a pundit has tipped this first-team star to quit Elland Road in 2023.