Manchester, England (AP) – Killian Mbappe won the World Cup by the age of 19. The most expensive soccer player ever He was labelled as heirs of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Seven years later, and for a long time, Messi and Ronaldo passed their peak, Mbappe is still officially recognized as the best player in the world.
If anything, he’s backing down.
The latest measures made him rank seventh. That’s where he placed his vote for the Baron de Holle this year – the biggest individual award in the sport – last week, it was Mbappe’s French teammate Ousmane Dembele wins.
“You deserve it x1000,” Mbappe politely posted on social media.
Second place was teenage sensory laminyamal. A player of such incredible talent, he is now predicted to dominate the Ballon d’Or. The new generation is threatening to steal Mbappe before it is on top.
Yamal may overtake Mbappe
“The challenges seem to be getting bigger to get him to the top,” author Luka Kaiori told The Associated Press. Caioli co-written the book “Mbappe,” which chronicled his rise from Prodigy to Superstar.
He said the appearance of 18-year-old Yamal has doubts about whether Mbappe will become multiple Barondoors or winners.
“Now, the appeal of this young player, at 18, can be very complicated as he has broken all his age records (someone he),” Kaiori said. “And also, age is beginning to be interesting for Mbappe. He’s not 19 years old like he did when he won the World Cup. It’s changed.”
Already leading Spain to the European Championship and Barcelona to the Spanish title in his early career, Yamal won the Copa Trophy with the best under 21 player in his second year running. However, there was a claim that he deserved the highest award.
La Liga’s president of Javier Tebas said the forward tends to be overlooked because of his age. Yamal’s father said his son was “the best player in the world.”
Mbappe was mostly part of the conversation
There was no such anger in response to Mbappe’s missed. Last year, he also came from his club, Real Madrid. I boycotted the ceremony When Vinicius’ junior was beaten to the award by Manchester City midfielder Rodri.
Frankly, despite Mbappe winning Golden Shoes this year as the top European goal scorer, this year has been mostly part of the conversation.
However, at age 26, Mbappe levels have not declined. Golden Shoes was the first of his career, and last month he moved past a total of 51 goals for France’s Thierry Henry. He is now only six years old, having surpassed Olivier Gilud as the best scorer in his country’s history.
He was the first teenager since Brazil’s great Pele to score in the 2018 World Cup final, which France won. And four years later he became the second player to score a hat-trick in the final when France lost on penalties against Argentina.
He left Paris Saint-Germain as the club’s greatest goal scorer ever.
However, despite comments from Tebas and Yamal’s father, Dembele was not a deserved winner for Baron Door, but a star player for the PSG team that won the Champions League, French League and Cups, and could not have been said to have scored 32 goals.
Mbappe was a victim of bad timing
It was a personal redemption year for Dembele, but his career later fell to a dead end Move to Barcelona In 2017, Mbappe also appeared in his first season after a few years of transfers from PSG to Madrid.
Kaiori said Mbappe moved to “worst moments” as PSG was about to win the Champions League for the first time, with Madrid giving up the Spanish and European titles.
“He made a beautiful season. He’s a European golden boot (winner)…but he found one of the worst years for Real Madrid,” he said. “I think he’d waited too long to go to Madrid… and choose the wrong moment.”
How Baron is judged
The Ballon d’Or is an incomplete way to determine the best player in the world. Ultimately, it’s a matter of opinion. It was voted by one journalist from each of the top 100 countries in FIFA. Standards include individual and team performance, “definitive and impressive characters,” and “class and fair play.”
But it is often directed towards the best players on a team that won the Champions League or major international competitions like the World Cup in certain years.
That’s why after winning the World Cup against France in 2018, when he came fourth in 2018, Mbappe could have thought it was unfortunate to miss himself. The winner of that year was Luka Modric, who finished second in the World Cup with Croatia and won the Madrid and the Champions League.
“I did everything I could, but not everything I can do to win the Baron de Holle,” Mbappe said at the time. “It shows that I still have to do to win this trophy, or it would be too easy to get there and win at once.”
Mbappe’s highest placement at Ballon D’Or came in 2023 after a final hat trick in the World Cup. The winner of that year was Messi. Messi won Argentina in the Qatar tournament.
The weight of expectations
The expectation that Mbappe could control Ballon D’ or Ballon D’ was based on the criteria set by Messi and Ronaldo. It was predicted that he and Man City striker Ehring Haaland would develop a similar rivalry, but Yamal’s appearance changed that.
“He is the present and definitely has a big future,” Messi said of Yamal.
Spanish manager Luis de La Fuente said, “We’ve seen the product of geniuses, geniuses,” about the teenager who handed over Pere as the youngest player to win a major international tournament as part of Spain’s Euro 2024 team.
The competition between Madrid’s Mbappe and Barcelona’s Yamal will emulate that of Ronaldo and Messi, who spent their careers at two of Spain’s biggest clubs.
It’s never too late for Mbappe
And time is still on the side of Mbappe. He reached just at peak times and joined the most successful team in European football in Madrid.
The unlikely Mbappe does not appear to have won the top prize in European club soccer with the Spanish Giants at least once. Especially if he continues to score at his previous percentage.
This season alone, he has scored 12 goals in 10 matches between Madrid and France. These included two: Barondoor or Levante the day after the ceremony.
Dembele had to wait until he was 28 to win the trophy, so he could serve as an inspiration for Mbappe, a 19-month junior.
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There’s James Robson https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
