Kylian Mbappe returned to light training Wednesday with a bandage covering his broken nose in the first public appearance by the France superstar since his bloody injury that shook the European Championship.
A cryptic Instagram post on social media earlier hours might have provided an insight into Mbappe's mindset as the world waits to discover how long he will be out of action.
"Without risks, there are no victories," the striker wrote on Instagram in the only comment so far from Mbappe or the French team management on a day when the Real Madrid-bound player underwent more tests on the nose injury sustained in the 1-0 win over Austria on Monday.
Mbappe emerged for a late-afternoon practice session at the Home Deluxe Arena in Paderborn about 30 minutes after his teammates came out. He was initially seen running with the ball alone, with a trainer, and later speaking to France coach Didier Deschamps, before taking part in a shooting drill with other players.
France's next match is against the Netherlands on Friday and the team has yet to officially confirm whether Mbappe is available.
Earlier Wednesday, the diagnosis on Mbappe had been fairly encouraging from two of his teammates.
"A fractured nose isn't the end of the world," midfielder Adrien Rabiot said Wednesday through a translator at a lunchtime news conference in Paderborn, where France holds its training sessions at Euro 2024, "and Kylian should be with us pretty soon."
William Saliba said he spoke to Mbappe and reported the striker was feeling a "bit better."
Mbappe broke his nose when his face collided with the shoulder of Austria defender Kevin Danso. Blood was seen pouring from Mbappe's badly swollen nose, turning parts of his white France jersey red. He will have to wear a face mask if he plays on at the tournament, his team said.
"I saw him this morning, he was a bit better," Saliba said through a translator. "I think he was off to do more tests. I don't know anything more.
"But when I saw him this morning, he was a bit better."
Rabiot has compared the injury to one suffered by his teammate at Juventus, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. The Poland international broke his nose against Torino in April, underwent surgery and was back with the team the following week.
The widespread expectation is that Mbappe will play a further part at Euro 2024, especially since France's win over Austria means the team is likely to advance to the knockout stage, which begins on June 29.
France will not be playing their match in the round of 16 before June 30.
Rabiot stressed he didn't know how long Mbappe will be out but said "playing without Kylian could be tough."
"He is a very important teammate and he is our captain, so it will have an effect on us, but also for the opponents -- it will be different for them to prepare their game," Rabiot said.
"I'm not going to hide it, we definitely want him to play. [But] looking at who we have on the bench, I think we have what it takes to replace Kylian. If he's not there, it's going to be a bit more tough but I trust all the great players we have on the team."
Olivier Giroud and Randal Kolo Muani are the options to come in for Mbappe, who was nominally a centre-forward against Austria but was given licence to roam to the left or right. It was from the right wing where he played in the cross for the only goal -- a header into his own net by Maximilian Wober.
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