‘There’s only one Mbappe!’ – England star Saka denies World Cup comparisons with France forward

England’s Bukayo Saka has played down comparison with France striker Kylian Mbappe ahead of the two nations’ quarter-final clash. 

​Saka impressing at World CupMbappe top scorerForward rejects comparisons

WHAT HAPPENED? Saka scored his third goal of World Cup 2022 on Sunday as England booked a quarter-final date with France in Qatar with a comfortable victory over Senegal. The Arsenal star has been asked about coming up against Mbappe, who scored four goals at the last World Cup at the age of 19 and won the Young Player of the Tournament award, but played down comparisons with the Paris Saint-Germain superstar.

WHAT THEY SAID: “Thank you for your compliment, but no…I think there’s only one Kylian Mbappe!” he told reporters. “At the same time there’s only one me. I just want to be myself and help my team in the best way I can. There’s a lot of young players in this tournament, I can name so many. Even in our team, there’s a young player who’s doing unbelievably well in Jude Bellingham. I’m just happy we are all here and doing well. The priority is to win the tournament rather than be the player of the tournament or the young player of the tournament.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mbappe will be the big threat when England take on France and currently tops the scoring charts in Qatar with five goals from four games. However, Saka has shown already the danger he can cause teams, and France will also be well aware that no team has scored as many goals at the 2022 World Cup so far as England.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

DID YOU KNOW? Mbappe has scored five goals in four games at the 2022 World Cup, already surpassing his goal tally from his previous appearance in the tournament in 2018 (four goals in seven appearances). Mbappe is also the youngest French player on record (since 1966) to score and assist in a World Cup knockout stage game (23y 349d).

WHAT NEXT FOR SAKA? The Arsenal star was back in the England starting XI against Senegal and will be hoping to keep his place for the quarter-final clash with France on Saturday.

 

 

Related Post
Share
Published by

Recent Posts

“Never expected a very easy run” – Gautam Gambhir reflects on his tenure as coach after IND vs NZ 2024 Test series defeat

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has admitted that he never expected a very easy run… Read More

October 31, 2024

Probably has a lot to do with playing on flat wickets in T20 – Gautam Gambhir on decline of good defensive technique in Test cricket

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir feels T20 cricket has led to the downfall of a… Read More

October 31, 2024

India needs Mumbai Test win before Australia tour – Gautam Gambhir

Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir feels the Rohit Sharma-led team desperately needs to win the… Read More

October 31, 2024

I cannot say just the batters have let us down – Gautam Gambhir feels everyone should take responsibility for series loss against New Zealand

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to blame the batters after the team’s 2-0 series… Read More

October 31, 2024

It was insane – Bronny James after scoring his first NBA bucket

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James was on cloud nine after he managed to score… Read More

October 31, 2024

I’m happy with my team’s performance: Mohun Bagan SG head coach Jose Molina after win against Hyderabad FC

Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Jose Molina was delighted with the team’s performance after… Read More

October 31, 2024