World Cup 2018: Kylian Mbappe grows from boy wonder into The Man and dethrones Lionel Messi
France star turned on a display to change the tournament - while the Argentina legend might be on his way down
THE King is dead . . . long live the Kylian. Where once there was Messi, unique and unstoppable, now there’s Mbappe.
Younger, quicker, hungrier — and deadlier on the biggest stage.
At 19, he gives his magical mentor a dozen years of a start. But in this meteorological and metaphorical cauldron, France’s boy wonder quite simply became The Man.
Twenty years ago to the day, an even younger striker called Michael Owen had written his name all over World Cup history by running at Argentina’s backline to score one of the tournament’s finest-ever solo goals.
Here, though, history did not just repeat. It rewrote itself with a happier ending because, unlike England’s jet-heeled prince, King Kylian ended up on the winning side.
And who knows, he might even end up winning the whole damn thing.
Coach Didier Deschamps — skipper when France won the trophy back in 1998 — smiled: “That was a good year — we got the World Cup and Kylian was born.
“In such an important match, he showed all his talent. As well as scoring twice and earning the penalty, he also defended well when he had to.
“He’s a great young man. He adores football, he knows everything about clubs and players. I am so happy he is French and is progressing so well.”
Mbappe is also a kind-hearted young man.
It has been revealed he gives all his international match fees — £17,000 plus bonuses — to a charity providing sports facilities for disabled children because he thinks it is wrong to be paid for pulling on the dark blue shirt.
If France go on to win the trophy, each player will earn an extra £265,000 — which the teenager will also hand over to the Premiers de Cordees Association.
The £162million Paris Saint-Germain star, who became the youngest player since Pele in 1958 to score more than once in a World Cup knockout match, grinned: “That’s flattering but he was at a different level, so let’s put things in context.
“I’m just happy to score even one in a match like this.
“I am only young, I was born in the same year France won the World Cup. That was our only time but this is our opportunity to show our abilities.
“There is certainly no better place to shine than this. All the top players are here, it is the greatest stage.”
Argentina’s Angel Di Maria and France full-back Benjamin Pavard fought out a private contest for the best goal of the game with two magnificent long-range strikes.
But Mbappe certainly stole the spotlight, outshining Messi no matter how hard the old master tried.
His run to win Antoine Griezmann’s 13th-minute penalty was lightning.
His two second-half finishes in the space of four minutes — one left foot, one right — were clinical and turned a 2-2 deadlock into a commanding 4-2 lead.
Di Maria had earlier curled in a 41st- minute leveller after Griezmann’s spot-kick.
But Argentina’s talisman Messi was left picking up the scraps, his shot deflected in by Gabriel Mercado to put his side 2-1 up on 48 minutes then a lovely cross for Sergio Aguero’s stoppage-time consolation.
Pavard’s 57th-minute right-footer made it 2-2 before Mbappe’s double.
Griezmann, who recently turned down the chance to join Messi at Barcelona, said: “That’s the Kylian we needed to see.
“He made the difference by winning the penalty and then scoring two goals.
"It’s obvious that he does us a lot of good. When we had complicated moments, he was there.
“The world will hopefully now see the potential we have as a team. But Kylian has been revealed in the eyes of everyone.”
Les Bleus’ average age is 26 — the same as England — but Deschamps added: “Our team is much younger but we answered the call.
“It was not easy as we were leading, then we were 2-1 behind — but we have a lot of character and we kept fighting.
“There is an excellent mentality in this group of players and we did everything to go further. I’m very happy for them because they have been preparing themselves for weeks and months.
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“We couldn’t miss it and we didn’t miss it.”
France skipper Hugo Lloris admitted: “We had to raise our level in the important moments.
“It’s when our backs are to the wall that we show the talent of this team.
“I hope it will make us aware of the potential we have.”