Mbappe: Accept people s prejudice, opinions, and comments against me, I can t change the world

Hupu September 10th, French Media Newspaper exclusive interview with Mbappe.

(Exclusive interviews are too long, published in the order of Q&A written by the team newspaper)

At the end of this year, you will celebrate the tenth anniversary of your first professional competition. Of all the changes that happen in your life, we consider your family and intimacy to change the least.

Yes, that's what I think. The player's identity has changed. He plays in different fields and clubs. His person has also changed, which is very natural.

I was a teenager when I first started playing football... But yes, this foundation has never changed. It's in our hearts.

I have always owned it. It cannot be negotiated or changed. We can always exist in Europe and around the world. Family members always communicate and make phone calls, and we will meet whenever we have time. This is why the bond between us has never changed.

Does it feel like you have broken off contact if you change your country?

In recent years, in Paris, it has been far away from its families. Ethan (his younger brother) is growing up and needs someone to take care of, and I am no longer the one who needs attention.

Care for Ethan, his career, he was once a minor child, later a teenager, and now a future man, all of which are important.

He is 18 years old... In football, I am afraid that I will overshadow him, but in life, I will not. I am the most important thing, I will protect him.

On the contrary, you have to make him eclipse so that he won't be too dazzling. I was relieved when I learned that he was a midfielder. This allows us to avoid unnecessary comparisons. It is also this that gives me the greatest breathing space when facing us doing the same job.

What is also unchanged is the attention, the constant hustle and bustle, and the contrast between people's perception of you and reality.

I am not the first, nor the last. It's just that for me, this attention is magnified. It's a story of football, television and fame.

Sometimes fair, sometimes unfair, but this cannot be changed. I often say that people don’t know me, but at the same time, you can’t know everyone… It’s normal. Many rumors about me are far from the truth.

For example, you were exaggerated by the media and asked to ignite the Olympic flame?

I really don't understand. Even if I was in the Olympics—I do want to—I wouldn’t consider passing the flame. We must leave this honor to someone who has a connection with the Olympics, and I may be just a pawn.

No one's Olympic story should start with the ignition of the sacred flame, which makes no sense, especially in France, where many athletes make history. What do you want to explain? "No, no, get out of the way, you brought back hundreds of gold medals, but Killian had his smile."

This makes no sense, I think I'm very sober about it. The problem is that this controversy will affect your life.

I accept it. I can't change the world. Sometimes you are darker than you are, and sometimes you are better.

But the truth will finally come to light, even if it may take a long time. Some people spend their entire career waiting for recognition, or waiting for people to really understand them. You have to learn to accept this. If you spend time fighting it, you'll waste a lot of energy and never win.

It will swallow your heart and make you unable to resist. Before me, many athletes had experienced such pain. I try to learn from them.

Which athletes are there?

I think everyone in the past has a little bit... Some people, even if you can become their fans in the future, it is difficult to be inspired by them.

For example, Zidane, his story only once. You can appreciate his greatness, but no one can have that kind of athlete image anymore. It was a special era, a special period. A special player!

That's completely different. But looking at French athletes, we are lucky to have some great athletes who have all been “slaughtered” by public opinion at some point. I think this is inevitable, and I fully accept this trend of public opinion.

Does Mbappe have the right to fall and fail?

No. But this is why people respect you very much. Because you accept all of this, you are tenacious, you always desire victory.

I never want to accept failure, so when others criticize me for this, I don't mind. I'm strict with myself, more stringent than most people, so I'm very calm about it.