PARIS (AP) — As world cup Loom, star of France Kylian Mbappe His left knee, which had been bothering him for weeks, is now feeling fine.
The Real Madrid striker has started as a substitute in the team’s last two games and is regaining form, joining up with his French team-mates ahead of a number of friendlies in the United States this week.
“There was a lot of frustration, a lot of anger and even some anxiety at one point,” Mbappé told French media at a promotional event late on Monday. “I had reached a stage where I didn’t even know what was wrong with me. I didn’t go through that period in the best way. I wasn’t the happiest player in the world. But I’m happy now because it’s really over for me. It’s all behind me.”
Mbappe was in great form until he was appointed. sprained my knee At the end of last year. The former Paris Saint-Germain player, who joined Madrid in the summer of 2024, played throughout January before making his latest return after being sidelined for three-and-a-half weeks.
“I wanted to be very careful to make sure I didn’t come back too soon and risk a relapse or an injury elsewhere,” he said. “I wasn’t afraid of injuring my knee somewhere else instead of re-injuring it. If you don’t play for four or five weeks, you have to work all your other muscles again. So I took my time.”
Mbappe also slammed “baseless” information spread during his absence.
“Until recently, I didn’t even have a diagnosis, but many people have given me one,” he says. “From that point on, it was easy to say everything that was being said was wrong. I heard a lot of things: about surgery, about not being able to play again, about not being able to play in the World Cup. It was all completely unfounded.”
Mbappe, who has scored 38 goals in 35 games this season, said he was happy that Madrid had played well in his absence. The club is second in La Liga and will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals next month.
He added that he would like to play with France during the international break as Les Bleus prepare for the summer’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Although Mbappé has yet to win the Champions League, he has already enjoyed great success with the French national team. Hat trick in a brutal defeat He won against Lionel Messi and Argentina in the 2022 final, becoming the second teenager to score in the 2018 World Cup final, after Pele.
France plays Brazil on Thursday in Foxborough and Colombia on March 29 in Landover.
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