The story you didn’t know about the young Frenchman, who surprised from the lower categories of AS Monaco
Son of Brazilians and born in Portugal, Leonardo Miramar remember in detail the first times you saw them Kylian Mbappé in the U19 team from monaco. Although he was very young, his star PSG, who faced Bayern Munich In the quarter-finals of the Champions League, he has already demonstrated the talent that will captivate the world years later.
“I was about 16 years old when we trained with the Monaco B team, which had much older boys, 20 years old. In the individual exercise, he destroyed the opponents. He took the defenders and left them all on the field, It was a I said, “Wow, the boy is done with everyone,” the striker, who is currently at RWD Molenbeek in Belgium, told ESPN.com.
Even though he was three years younger than the age limit of the category, the Frenchman remained.
“Mbappé had a lot of speed and ability to define very well. In the first five games of the U-19 he already had 10 goals. He scored very easily.
“He was used in the basic forces when a player stood out, to nickname him after the Brazilian stars, mainly Ronaldinho Gaucho. Mbappé was called” Kylianinho “because he was very good with the ball. He liked this nickname,” he explained. .
Despite his great talent, his former colleagues saw the French as an easy-to-understand person on a daily basis.
“We used to play a lot off the field, because he upset his older colleagues. He got along well with everyone and we liked to joke. He was a very polite and nice boy,” she said.
Leonardo states that other boys in the youth categories of monaco They were as popular as Mbappé at the time, however the PSG striker was the only one who managed to become a high level player.
“He was considered a very great talent, but many others who went through the basics showed that. When he went up to the first team, they saw that he was different from the others because he came with great maturity and gained confidence. . “
After only one year in the U19 team, Mbappé He made his debut for Monaco in the 2014/2015 season.
“We wondered if he would perform so well in the first professional division and he maintained his level. It’s very special. The following year, he made the leap to the first team and we’ve never seen him (laughs).”
Since then, the striker has established himself as one of the big names in football, being champion of the 2018 World Cup with France at only 19 years old.