France's Thèo Hernandez also playing for injured brother at Euros

France's Theo Hernandez reacts during the International Friendly soccer match between Germany and France at the Signal Iduna Park. Bernd Thissen/dpa

Théo Hernandez wants to do well with fancied France at Euro 2024 and also has his absent brother in mind after Lucas Hernandez suffered a another big event injury setback.

Defender Lucas Hernandez ruptured a cruciate knee ligament last month while playing for Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund, and is out of action for months.

He suffered the same injury in the early stages of France's first match at the 2022 World Cup against Australia, with Théo coming on and taking his place for the rest of the tournament for the eventual runners-up France.

"It is a very sad situation. He injured his knee in his first World Cup match and now he's injured it again before the Euros, but I talk to him every day," AC Milan defender Theó Hernandez said on Saturday at the team's base camp in Paderborn.

"He's getting better, and I hope we can go as far as possible for him too.

Led by superstar Kylian Mbappe, twice champions France are top title contenders for the Euros in Germany. Their first match is on Monday against Austria, with the Netherlands and Poland the other group stage opponents.