Man Utd star Martial offers no excuse for ‘disastrous’ Euros

Ian Watson

Anthony Martial: Scored in France's friendly win over Italy

Anthony Martial insists he will learn from his struggles during a “disastrous” European Championship campaign with France.

The Manchester United forward failed to take his club form from last season on to the international stage in the summer, starting only one game for France during a campaign which ended in a 1-0 defeat to Portugal in the final in Paris.

Martial was restored to Didier Deschamps’ starting XI for the friendly against Italy on Thursday and the 20-year-old rediscovered his goalscoring touch with the opener in a 3-1 victory over the Azzurri.

The former Monaco forward says he learning from his difficult summer, telling French TV: “It was a very difficult Euros – disastrous. We didn’t manage to win the title and I spent it on the bench. It happens, I am young, I am going to learn from that.

“It was the first time I had played so much for my club but that is not an excuse. I should have been better.”