Kylian Mbappe and his France teammates “knew” they would lose to Argentina once the World Cup final went to penalty shootout as a “10-year-old” would score beyond Hugo Lloris.
That’s according to Gabby Agbonlahor, who says the Tottenham and France captain is “useless” at saving spot-kicks.
Lloris saw all four penalties he faced scored past him in the final penalty shootout and has now not saved any of the nine he’s faced in major competitions for France.
And Agbonlahor told Football insider that there was no way France were going to win after the match went to a shootout and the players already knew it.
“France sort of knew they were going to lose the shootout,” Agbonlahor said. “When you looked at Mbappe’s face at the end of extra time, they knew their goalkeeper couldn’t save a penalty if a 10-year-old was taking it.
“Lloris is useless at saving penalties. “Martinez is so good, he’s so big and broad and has such a good record at penalties. “There was no way France were winning that penalty shootout.”
Lloris’ opposite number Emiliano Martinez saved one penalty and sh*thoused Tchouameni into missing his own as he proved to be the hero for Argentina.
The Aston Villa shot-stopper has saved 23.1 per cent of the penalties he’s faced in his career, compared to Hugo Lloris’ 12.1 per cent.
Having lost in the final, Lloris said he saw the World Cup in Qatar as a “handover” to the new generation.
He said: “I believe that this tournament can be used for the future of the France team. It was a bit of a handover between a generation arriving in the last phase of their career and a new generation led by Kylian who showed strong leadership in this tournament and even more so in this final. We must keep this France team at the top.
When asked if he will retire from international football, Lloris said: “I don’t want to answer this question. I need a little perspective, to gain height. We’ll see in a few weeks.
“We come out exhausted from a tournament like that. We just want to find our own. We don’t have much strength left, we just want to be back with our families.”
