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Hammering the F5 key, they were. Refreshing their phones, over and over. There will have been supporters hovering over Kylian Mbappe’s social media channels waiting for les excuses. 

Because that is what football is these days. Can the villain please address his crime? Quickly, now, we’ve things to do.

For those of you who gazed out the window during French classes, excuses are apologies.

Kylian Mbappe apologised to his followers after France were dumped out of Euro 2020

We are not suggesting Mbappe was composing a tweet blaming his missed penalty on a gust of unexpected Romanian wind or Benjamin Pavard telling Yann Sommer which way to go from the halfway line.

No, he apologised to his millions of followers and struck the right tone — as we football fans expect.  

‘I’m sorry,’ Mbappe wrote at 2.18am in Bucharest. ‘I wanted to help the team but failed. Getting to sleep will be difficult but unfortunately it is the ups and downs of this sport that I love so much.’

Mbappe admitted that 'finding sleep will be difficult' following the shock defeat for Les Bleus

Didier Deschamps’ squad had apparently been struggling for kip over the past week or so anyway with all the travelling and hotel-noise issues, so perhaps staring up at the walls on Monday night was just the norm.

The penalty was a decent one, met with a strong save. These things happen.

Generally, Mbappe underperformed at a major tournament, which is permissible unless you have the misfortune to be English.

He is 22 and played a major role in France going into this Euros as favourites, given his exploits at the 2018 World Cup. He will come again. Probably with a vengeance. Watch out Qatar. 

Mbappe stepped up with the shootout locked at 5-4, but his shot was parried by Yann Sommer

Mbappe cut an isolated figure after making his way off the field following the full-time whistle

The squabbling with team-mate Olivier Giroud before a ball had been kicked might not have helped his cause with a section of the French public, but there will be an acceptance that even the elite can dip for a short period of time. 

That he had a bit of a back-and-forth about who should pass to whom in the friendly matches is of no real consequence.

People, though, immediately wondered why very few France players went over to console Mbappe following his miss.

Lucas Digne — renowned for being a top fella — did just that, along with Paul Pogba, Moussa Sissoko and Marcus Thuram. Perhaps most of them knew that Mbappe would rather not be afforded banal support by everybody at a time he’d rather the ground eat him up.

He knew. The apology we all craved said so. 

Tremendous tournament for Own Goal — distant cousin of A Trialist — so far. Nine strikes to his name plus, and this is the mark of the man, a variety of finishes.

Own Goal has found the net from all angles. Long range, punching home, no-look flicks — this guy has the lot.

Michel Platini is fretting. His long-standing record will surely be beaten over the coming week. The Frenchman’s nine-goal Golden Boot, dating back 37 years, has stood the test of time. Until now.

Not only does Own Goal look likely to pinch Platini’s crown, he will also surpass his own record in the competition’s history.

He’d only scored nine in the previous 15 editions. This stage really is made for heroes.