Aurelien Tchouameni apologises to French fans following missed penalty

France returned home to a heroes welcome at the Place de la Concorde on Monday night, as thousands of fans turned out to acclaim the French squad for their second consecutive World Cup final.

The reaction has not all been positive though. After several of France’s squad, Kylian Mbappe, Randall Kolo Muani, Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni received racial abuse online. The latter trio deactivated the comments on their Instagram in the face of such a grim response.

Real Madrid’s Tchouameni was one of two to miss a penalty against Argentina in the shoot-out, and posted on his Twitter, apologising to the fans.

“It will take time to digest the bitterness and frustration. We will tried everything.”

“I take my responsibility, it didn’t work and I’m the first to be sorry.”

“I am convinced that the future of @equipedefrance looks bright, especially if we can count on you.”

The reality is, of course, that Tchouameni has nothing to apologise for. He was an instrumental part of the side making the final and without his excellent strike against England, there is a good chance they do not come through that tie.

Some have pointed out that the ‘especially if we can count on you’ part of his statement may be a reference to some of that abuse.

Once again players are being subjected to discrimination for doing their job.