France coach Didier Deschamps has said that Frenchman Kylian Mbappe can greatly influence games like five times world footballer of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The coach paid tribute to the Paris Saint-Germain forward ahead of the UEF Nations League clash with Portugal at the Stade de France on Saturday evening.
This is a chance for the world champions to avenge their defeat in the UEFA Euro 2016 final at the same venue in 2016.
Despite being the better side, France, who hosted the competition, was tipped to lift the trophy but were shocked by the Portuguese.
Deschamps, who further stated that Mbappé shares Ronaldo’s ability, lauded the Juventus talisman for his unrelenting strength to be decisive at every moment as well.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he added that Mbappe shares the same strength despite being much younger. This, he believes, puts them in the world-class category of players.
So far, Mbappé, who recently recovered from COVID-19, has scored two goals and assisted four in three Ligue 1 games for PSG this season.
With a hand in a goal every 43 minutes he has played, Mbappe can be rated as a top player. He has so far scored 15 goals in 36 appearances for France.
Meanwhile, Mbappe’s teammate, Italy midfielder Marco Verratti, said he has never thought of leaving the French champions.
The Italian midfielder is usually linked with a move away from the Paris club in every transfer window, but he is in his 9th season with the champions, which he joined in the summer of 2012.
Since joining PSG, he has won 25 major honours amd plated nearly 400 games.
PSG recently released Edinson Cavani, Thiago Silva on free transfers to Manchester United and Chelsea, respectively, while Thomas Meunier moved to Borussia Dortmund.
Despite their departures, it never crossed Verratti’s mind to follow them out of the club. His reason was that he is playing with a big team with big targets.
He also noted that he has played with great champions in his eight years at the club. France and Portugal played out a goalless draw in there UEFA Nations League game yesterday.
Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed
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