In an interview, Kylian Mbappe discussed his boyhood heroes, naming Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane as his biggest inspiration.
Over the past three years, Mbappe, 21, has emerged as one of the most recognizable figures in international sport. The Paris Saint-Germain forward, who is still only in his teens, has already won every major domestic championship and the World Cup with his country. His accomplishments are on par with those of many of the greatest French football players.
Mbappe was born in 1998 and brought up in Bondy, an impoverished area northeast of Paris, during Zidane’s heyday as a world-renowned athlete.
Mbappe was questioned about the football players he most liked as a child during the launch party for his new foundation Inspired by KM. Through this foundation, he hopes to support 98 children, aged nine to sixteen, through to adulthood, in reference to his birth year.
He admitted, “Well, I’ve had phases.” “It was first Zidane when I was a kid. Zidane is your hero if you’re French and a boy.”After that, I had the good fortune to play against Cristiano [Ronaldo]. Then, because of his style of play, it was Ronaldo, a Brazilian.
“I want to leave that sort of a mark with my values, to leave a message in the history of football.”
When asked about his aspirations for the future, Mbappe outlined his ambitious schedule for the remaining months of the year with the goal of winning the Olympics, the Champions League, and Euro 2020.
With 21 goals in 22 games for PSG this season, Mbappe is well on his way to winning Ligue 1 for the fourth time. The Parisians have won their last 15 games in all competitions, and they presently sit eight points ahead of Marseille in second place.
But Mbappe hasn’t been able to secure the Champions League yet, since PSG has a history of losing in the Round of 16. This season, they will need to defeat an extremely talented but patchy Borussia Dortmund squad in order to go past that point.