Staff Reporter.
Belgium have apologised after a video was posted on their social media outlets of Amadou Onana saying he will kick France captain Kylian Mbappe when the teams meet in the last 16 of the European Championship.
The two countries play on Monday in Dusseldorf (17:00 BST kick-off).
The video features comedian Pablo Andres singing “Who will kick Mbappe’s shin?”. Everton midfielder Onana, 22, then answers: “Amadou Onana”.
It has since been taken down by the Royal Belgian Football Association.
Belgium media spokesperson Stefan Van Loock apologised on Saturday at the start of the team’s daily news conference.
“The video was intended to be humorous but has since been taken offline.” he said.
“We would like to apologise to anyone we may have offended by this. This concludes the matter for us.”
The video was not well received on social media in France and attracted widespread media coverage.
Belgian comedian Andres does extensive work for the Belgian federation, interviewing players on YouTube and making video clips for their social media accounts.