Meet the new hybrid of Ronaldo-Henry.
Both France and Argentina are two nations that are quite familiar with the concept of the young revolutionaries. If Argentina gave us Ernesto Che Guevara, the Communist who has become the face of unabashed capitalism by appearing on everything from t-shirts to beer mugs, then France is home to Albert Camus, the absurdist philosopher who is the second youngest Nobel Laureate in Literature.
With such a rich history of prodigal talent, it was perhaps no surprise that the curtain-raiser of the knockout rounds of the 2018 World Cup in Russia between the two countries was the perfect stage for an avant-garde performance by a bright youngster – Kylian Mbappe.
With all eyes on Messi and his Sisyphean struggle to make something of a fruitless international career that has failed to deliver the top gifts, Mbappe stole the show from his illustrious opponent with a blazing performance of raw pace and sublime trickery. It was like watching a gene-spliced clone of the Brazilian Ronaldo and Thierry Henry in their prime, a supremely-gifted attacking forward with pace to burn and amazing balance.
Other than his obvious physical and footballing abilities, Mbappe showed the rare quality that separates the good and great players, the ability to perform on the big stage under immense pressure.
His brace means he is the first teenager since Pele in 1958 to have scored twice in the KO stages of the World Cup, a record whose achievement is magnified by the fact that the two greatest players of this generation – Messi and Ronaldo – failed to even score in the KO round of a World Cup.
Major eyebrows were raised when Paris Saint-Germain offered to pay Monaco a mind-boggling €190m (plus add-ons) for Mbappe after a one-season loan deal (to stay inside UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Rules), making him the second-most expensive footballer of all time after Neymar Jr and by far the highest paid for a teenager ever.
Even in football’s highly inflated, stratospheric bubble untouched by the world’s economic woes, the amount seemed staggering. How could a teenager be worth so much? The most expensive teenager before that was Anthony Martial at €51m, who failed to even make the French squad for the World Cup.
However, Mbappe, who could’ve been an Arsenal player if Arsene Wenger didn’t baulk at the €7 million he’d have to pay his agent has been hailed by observers long before he hit the headlines.
Nicolas Anelka, another French prodigy from the famed Clairefontaine academy, had hailed his similarities to Ronaldo, the young Brazilian who dominated in the 1996 Olympics and 1998 World Cup.
Given these qualities, it was still hard to argue whether he was worth €190 million. But that’s where his prodigious talents come into play. In just 60 appearances in two seasons in Monaco, he scored 27 goals. In comparison, at that age Ronaldo had just started showing signs of brilliance at Sporting Lisbon before being signed by Sir Alex Ferguson.
His first 15 goals in Monaco, came at 1501 minutes, the least game time needed by any player in France to reach double figures that season. He also created eight goals, in 1501 minutes. The other seven men who registered as many assists spent 18 more hours on the pitch.
For Monaco, he handled the step up to Champions League remarkably as well, scoring against both Man City and Dortmund, becoming only the first player in history to net in his first four appearances in Europe’s premier tournament. His heroics saw Monaco edge PSG out to by a staggering nine points, the team he would go on to join.
In June, there were fears that he might miss a bit of the World Cup after getting injured in a French training session. So far, the front three appear to be hitting gear and Mbappe was, without doubt, the star of France’s performance. Other than scoring two goals, the youngster won 12 out of 16 aerial duels, won a penalty, drew four fouls and completed seven successful dribbles.
Pogba, who shone in a midfield duo with Kante, to boss Argentina’s ageing midfielders in the match, said with none of his characteristic humility, that even he wasn’t that good. Both his goals were Ronaldoesque, and it’s no wonder that Real Madrid are willing to part with over €300 million to make him the star around which the build new constellation of Galacticos once Ronaldo moves on.
For Mbappe, it will only be emulating his idol, the Portuguese who he claims was his inspiration growing up. Despite the obvious aspirations of the Qatari owners of the PSG project, Mbappe’s skills demand a bigger stage and in club football, they don’t come much bigger than Real Madrid.
Till that happens, it will be fascinating to see how he strikes up a chemistry with Neymar Jr and Edison Cavani at PSG. As for now, with France ominously clicking into top gear ahead of a mouth-watering showdown against Uruguay. As things stand, this French squad is starting to look very much like the heir of Zinedine Zidane’s multi-cultural Les Bleus that lifted the 98 World Cup after thumping favourites Brazil.
If that is to happen, the French will hope that their prodigious wunderkind continues to perform at this level.
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 "Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe")
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