PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday he remained hopeful national team captain Kylian Mbappe would be able to play for his country at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

"I hope he will be able to play at the Olympic Games," Macron said when asked by pupils during a visit to a school in the French capital.

Mbappe had previously made clear his desire to represent France at the Games, but that possibility dissipated when Real Madrid recently warned that they would not release any of their players to take part in the Olympics.

The 25-year-old World Cup-winning forward is currently at Paris Saint-Germain but has told the Ligue 1 side he intends to leave when his contract expires at the end of this season, with Madrid his expected next destination.

The Olympic football tournament — which is for Under-23 players with three overage players allowed per squad — does not fall during FIFA dates for international matches, which means clubs have no obligation to release their players for the competition.

Mbappe will lead France at Euro 2024, which runs from June 14 to July 14 in Germany.

The Olympic football competition begins on July 24 and runs to August 9, with France in a group alongside the United States, New Zealand and another side still to be determined.

Macron also stated that he would go to Germany for the semi-finals and final of Euro 2024 should Les Bleus get there.

"I will go if we are in the semi-finals or in the final," he said, pointing out that the final in Berlin falls on France's national day, July 14.

Meanwhile, Canadian star Jonathan David scored his 23rd goal of the season to set Lille on the way to a 3-1 win over Marseille on Friday that kept them firmly on course for next season's Champions League.

David's penalty put Lille ahead early in the second half. Remy Cabella doubled their lead on 71 minutes by scoring against his former club.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang claimed a goal back for Marseille, but substitute Gabriel Gudmundsson made sure of the victory for Lille late on.

The northern side, who face Aston Villa next week in their first ever European quarter-final in the Europa Conference League, move up to third in Ligue 1 ahead of the rest of the weekend's matches.

They are a point behind second-placed Brest and ahead of Monaco in fourth on goal difference, with the gap to Nice in fifth now six points.

Read The Rest at :