It is a sobering thought that Mbappe, not 24 till later this month, might not but be at the height of his powers however he has already scored seven objectives in 10 appearances at the World Cup.
Kylian Mbappe at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Picture: Twitter/@OkMbappe
DOHA – There is arguably no extra thrilling participant at this World Cup than Kylian Mbappe, who leads France into their last-16 conflict on Sunday towards a Poland facet, whose personal hopes of pulling off a well-known upset will rely to a big extent on Robert Lewandowski.
It is a sobering thought that Mbappe, not 24 till later this month, might not but be at the height of his powers however he has already scored seven objectives in 10 appearances at the World Cup.
That tally contains one within the 2018 ultimate when he was nonetheless a teen as France beat Croatia in Moscow.
His mission now could be to assist his nation turn into the primary to retain the World Cup since Brazil, with the assistance of a fair youthful Pele in 1962.
Mbappe has already scored 3 times in Qatar, together with a brace in a 2-1 victory towards Denmark that secured qualification for the final 16, and there’s a perception he’s thriving as the undisputed star of Didier Deschamps’ facet.
The scenario is totally different to that of Paris Saint-Germain, the place he shares the limelight with Lionel Messi and Neymar, and in that sense it might be that Karim Benzema’s withdrawal on account of damage on the eve of the event does no hurt to French hopes.
“Kylian has no ego,” insisted Deschamps a couple of days in the past, going towards the notion of Mbappe within the context of PSG.
“He is a decisive player for us and his performances put him in the spotlight. He is not 18 anymore. He has experience now.”
It wasn’t simply Mbappe -– who now has as many worldwide objectives as Zinedine Zidane — that France missed as a second-string staff misplaced 1-0 to Tunisia on Wednesday, a consequence that didn’t cease them topping their group.
He can be again together with the likes of Hugo Lloris, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud as France and Poland meet at a serious event for the primary time because the 1982 World Cup.
BEYOND REPROACH
“Kylian is not the same player or person as in 2018,” stated Griezmann on Friday when requested about Mbappe’s function in a squad hit by accidents to a number of key gamers earlier than the event.
“He is much more a part of the squad now. He speaks a lot and has fun. He knows that the media, fans and even his teammates will be watching everything that he does but he is beyond reproach.”
France are clear favourites for Sunday’s recreation however there may be the reminiscence of what occurred within the final 16 at final yr’s European Championship, when Mbappe missed the essential penalty in a shoot-out defeat to Switzerland.
Poland solely simply scraped by their group forward of Mexico on purpose distinction and Lewandowski’s strike -– his first World Cup purpose –- within the win over Saudi Arabia was due to this fact essential.
“I’m aware it might be my last World Cup and I wanted to be able to say that I’ve played and scored at World Cups,” Lewandowski stated after that recreation.
The 34-year-old additionally obtained 9 objectives in qualifying and there may be no person else fairly on his degree in Czeslaw Michniewicz’s squad.
“We are happy because getting out of the group was our objective,” stated defender Jakub Kiwior after the staff skilled on Friday.
Seeing Mbappe and Lewandowski collectively on the identical pitch is a uncommon deal with.
Two of probably the most prolific forwards within the trendy recreation, they’re nonetheless several types of striker –- one all about explosive tempo coming into the field from huge areas, and the opposite the last word penalty-box finisher now coming in direction of the tip of his profession.
Lewandowski left Bayern Munich for Barcelona within the final shut season, however in keeping with experiences in France he might need ended up at PSG.
Le Parisien reported on Friday that PSG tried to persuade Lewandowski to affix them after tying Mbappe to a brand new contract in May.
PSG’s failure to signal Lewandowski or one other top-class quantity 9 was given as one cause why Mbappe was reportedly so sad at his membership simply a few months in the past.
Those experiences have since died down and his focus is on the World Cup, with Lewandowski now standing in his manner.