The World Cup in Qatar ended, and in addition to Messi, the focus was on the 23-year-old "Mbappe", who won the Golden Boot with eight goals this year. In his seemingly smooth career, what secrets are unknown?
The 2022 Qatar World Cup ended a few days ago, and Argentina, led by Messi, fought France until the penalty shootout, with a score of 4:2, taking away the 36-year-old World Cup trophy.
The focus of this match, in addition to Messi's dream of finally achieving the title, is also Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick and scored all the goals of the national team.
With Messi and Ronaldo both retiring, the 23-year-old Mbappe has proved with his performance on the pitch that his era is coming.
But Mbappe's life as the highest-paid player is not as smooth as it seems, in fact, he has experienced many ups and downs, and is still fighting criticism and doubts from all sides.
Looking back on his life, at only 23 years old, he has experienced too many storms.
Photo| Tatsuchi Images/Associated Press
The upbringing of a football genius
Mbappe's family are all first-generation immigrants from France.
Born to Cameroonian immigrants and Algerian mothers, he grew up in Bondi, a suburb town northeast of Paris.
Bondi is a poor town with a predominantly immigrant community, where not only the income of its residents is below average, but also the unemployment rate is above average.
His father worked as a football coach and agent at Bondi, and his mother was a retired handball player.
Nurtured by his parents, Mbappe has been playing football since he was 4 years old, and since as long as he can remember, the football stadium has been the second most frequented place besides home.
With better motor nerves than ordinary people, he impressed his coach at the age of 6, and Antonio Ricardi, the young coach of AS Bondi, once said:
"The first time I managed Mbappe was when he was six years old and he was the best player I've seen in 15 years. There are a lot of football talents in Paris, but I've never seen a talent like this."
He regarded Ronaldo as an idol, his bedroom was plastered with pictures of Ronaldo, and he had a clear goal from a young age: to make a record in football history.
Image | Mbappe IG
"I've never felt the pressure to be a professional, I just have ambition." – Mbappe
While a child his age was still playing video games, he and his family had already made plans for their future life and completed their career goals as a player.
You might say that he is very ambitious, but without persistent efforts, ambition will be empty talk. Now he has proved that he absolutely deserves such ambitions.
(Extended reading: "The Secret of the Gifted": When I have my own dreams, how do I balance my parents' expectations? ）
He was my father and a strict coach
Mbappe's father raised him to be a footballer, but he is not only a father who wants to be a son, he is also the coach of his son.
So he was particularly harsh on Mbappe and once reprimanded him in front of other players in order not to let other players think he was biased.
Mbappe grew up in such an environment, and his father never regarded him as a genius, but let him know the pressures that professional players should face.
He knew that a professional player needed to be honed, so he turned down invitations from major clubs to let Mbappe play in France, and this decision gave Mbappe more time to accumulate his strength.
Mbappe was well aware of his father's cultivation, so he was relieved to leave his career to his father, who is still his agent.
In addition to being Mbappe's father and coach, he has also become his son's most loyal fan.
In this World Cup, he also went to the scene to cheer for his son, and Mbappe hugged his father in the audience after the game, and the relationship between father and son was enviable.
The competitive-minded Kylian Mbappe scored three goals in this World Cup final, becoming the second man to score a hat-trick in the final since 1966.
Despite this, the French team was unable to successfully defend the title, and Mbappe was unable to respond to French President Macron's repeated comfort, perhaps only the encouragement and companionship of his family could make him smile again.
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Bring sponsors back to immigrant communities to drive local development
The 2018 World Cup made the 19-year-old Mbappe a hit, and despite his previous fame, his excellent performances at the World Cup made him an instant household name.
"I'm not kicking for money." – Mbappe
In the face of fame and fortune, Mbappe has donated all of his World Football proceeds to charity for two consecutive editions (2018, 2022).
He not only established an education and care foundation, but also interacted with local teenagers to play football from time to time, encouraging children from local immigrant families to dream bravely.
Because of Mbappé's success, more and more children began to follow his example, and posters and murals with his portrait appeared in all corners of town.
In 2019, Mbappe teamed up with his main sponsor Nike to launch a series of Bondy Dreams limited edition merchandise, and filmed advertisements with local children to bring their resources back to the community and drive local development.
In addition, Mbappé also founded his own foundation "Inspired by KM" in January 2020 to encourage poor and immigrant children living in France to pursue their dreams.
Image | Mbappe IG
Being bullied because of her appearance and skin color
Whether you are familiar with Mbappe or not, you will definitely know that he has the nickname "Ninja Turtles", but how did this nickname come about?
In fact, this is the nickname given to him by Brazilian players such as Neymar and Alves, who believe that Mbappe's appearance looks like the protagonist "Donatello" in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", and openly talk and tease each other on social media.
Although Mbappe himself has not spoken publicly, his parents are quite unhappy about it and see it as bullying.
In the 2018 Champions League final, Mbappe missed a penalty that prevented the team from winning the title, causing great anger among fans, cursing him with racist language and booing him when he held the ball.
'When Mbappe wins, he's French, and when he loses, he's a different guy.' —American Sports Weekly
Image | Mbappe IG
Such arrogant online violence led him to the idea of quitting the French team, and he also publicly criticized the French Football Association for not stepping forward in time to protect the players.
Unexpectedly, this remark once again caused another wave of offensives from the acid people.
"I think I'm a role model for everyone, and today's France should be the new France. This is the message I want to convey to my generation of young people: we are stronger than before. I'm French, I'm a Parisian kid." – Mbappe
Mbappe later calmed himself down and realized that pulling out was not the best way to respond to an attack.
Seeing that he is now an all-French football hero, presumably this is the best way to respond to the sourdough.
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Image | Mbappe IG
Transgender supermodel girlfriend Inisrow
As a star-level player, Mbappe's private life is also in the spotlight.
In May, photos of him dating model Ines Rau on a yacht surfaced and sparked discussion because of her transgender identity.
Inisrow, 28, who grew up in Paris, France, like Mbappe, was born a boy, already discovered that she wanted to be a woman at the age of 8, underwent surgery at age 16, and in 2017 became the first transgender girl of the month in Playboy magazine's history.
Inisrow has two young children and lost everything after opening up about her transgender identity, but she is happy to be herself and continues to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.
"I told myself that I should be myself. Whether it's gender, sexual orientation, or whatever, telling the truth is salvation, and people who reject you because they don't deserve it. The point is not to be loved by others, but to love yourself." - Inisro
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Image| Inisro IG
After Inisrow and Mbappe's dating photos were exposed, the two did not publicly respond to the scandal.
Although some fans ridicule Mbappe's romance, there are also many people who are optimistic about the couple, especially Inisrow's frank personality, which has made her gain a lot of love, and look forward to a good outcome in this sibling relationship.
The 23-year-old Mbappe has won a World Cup title, a World Cup runner-up, a Golden Boot award and other honors in his career, and after these ups and downs, I believe that he will continue to run on the ball game with a stronger appearance in the future and write one historical record after another.