Manchester City star Rayan Cherki appeared to blank France boss Didier Deschamps after Les Bleus’ thrilling World Cup win over Sweden.
The 2018 champions booked their place in the last 16 of the competition after a scintillating 3-0 victory over Graham Potter’s side on Tuesday night.
Already tournament favourites, France provided another statement victory with Kylian Mbappe scoring twice to take his tally to six with Michael Olise providing another mesmerising performance in the no10 role.
With Bradley Barcola also on the scoresheet and Ousmane Dembele scoring a hat-trick in the previous game against Norway, Deschamps’ side have the most complete attack in the World Cup with Desire Doue also part of the picture.
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It means opportunities for Cherki have been hard to come by. The former Lyon star has not started a game yet, coming off the bench in each of his country’s four matches to date to play a combined 51 minutes.
He and Crystal Palace star Jean-Philippe Mateta emerged off the bench with five minutes left to play against Sweden.
Footage shared on social media from full-time showed Cherki stood in the middle of the pitch away from the rest of his teammates, waving to the crowd when Deschamps began approaching him.
After the head coach reached out to his player, Cherki appeared to brush his hand away. Deschamps made another attempt to approach him as the leaned down to tie his boot with the Man City star against shifting away.
After the game, Deschamps highlighted the unity within the squad as one of the driving factors behind their excellent start to the competition.
There was also a touching moment in the game when Mbappe went straight to his head coach after scoring his first goal, swiftly followed by his teammates to embrace Deschamps. The 57-year-old missed the previous game against Norway after briefly returning to France following the death of his mother.
‘There’s a good connection,’ Deschamps said in his post-match press conference.
‘When we need to work hard with the ball, everyone is involved, including the forwards. That’s a very good thing. Obviously, it’s something that pleases me, and I’m proud of it. We need to keep it up.’
On Mbappe’s gesture, he added: ‘Obviously, on a personal level, Kylian’s gesture touched me deeply. He’s our captain. The group was united. They did what was necessary when I wasn’t there. It was better that I wasn’t there, for me and for them.
‘From the moment I came back, they knew I was with them. The team spirit doesn’t win matches, but it can lose them. Players might be disappointed because they’re not playing enough or at all; there might be frustrations, but the collective strength is paramount.’