The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Mbappe breaks media silence and plays down all talk of Golden Boot
3 1
Kylian Mbappe ended his media silence after he fired France into the quarterfinals with a brace against Poland and insisted his only objective in Qatar is to win a second consecutive World Cup.
Two curled finishes by Mbappe put the holders through and have the Paris St Germain attacker on course to win the Golden Boot with his tally for the tournament now up to five.
Mbappe also provided an assist for Olivier Giroud’s opener at Al Thumama Stadium but insisted after his side’s 3-1 victory that personal accolades are of no interest to him during the next two weeks.
“The only objective for me is to win the World Cup,” Mbappe said in English.
“Now to win the next game, the quarter-final, is the most important thing and that is what I dream. The only thing I dream of is this.
“I came here to win this World Cup. I didn’t come here to win the Golden Ball or Golden Boot. If I win it, of course I’m going to be happy but that’s not why I am here. I am here to win and to help the French national team.”
After scoring in groupstage victories over Australia and Denmark, Mbappe refused to take part in any post-match interviews and the French Football Federation will be fined by Fifa due to their star man not speaking.
The PSG striker has revealed he will cover the costs of the fines but explained his radio silence following his last-16 exploits.
Mbappe added: “I know people have been asking why I haven’t been appearing in front of the media. It wasn’t anything personal, I can assure you of that. I have nothing against journalists but I just needed to focus on the tournament and on my football.
“When I want to concentrate on something, that is the way I function and that is why I did not want to come and speak to you before now.
“I learned that the French Football Federation would get fined and I said I would pay the fine myself because I didn’t think the Federation should pay on my behalf.
“So far things have been going well but we are a long way from the ultimate objective, which is to win the World Cup.”
It was Giroud and Mbappe who fired France to World Cup glory in Russia and the same duo sent Poland packing in Doha.
Giroud fired into the ground and over ex-arsenal team-mate Wojciech Szczesny after Mbappe’s pass to ensure the world champions held a 1-0 lead at the break.
Mbappe added a second with 74 minutes on the clock when he controlled Ousmane Dembele’s pass and whipped a curled effort high into the net before another was added in the first minute of stoppage-time.
Poland, who saw Piotr Zielinski denied by Hugo Lloris from point-blank range with the game goalless, did find the net late on when Robert Lewandowski scored a penalty, but only after his first effort had been saved by Lloris, who rushed off his line too early.