Tag: Kylian Mbappe

Nike’s Footballverse World Cup ad is a tour de force of soccer science

Who is betrer between Kylian Mbappé and 2006 Ronaldinho? Nike attempt to find out

Nike’s official World Cup commercials are usually worth the wait, and this year’s version is no exception.

The ad, titled “Nike FC Presents the Footballverse,” attempts to answer the unanswerable: What would happen if soccer legends from different eras could face off against each other?

The scene begins at a lab in Switzerland, with two scientists arguing who is better: Kylian Mbappé now, or Ronaldinho in 2006.

Through the magic of technology, the team manages to summon both players for a one-on-one battle.

Naturally, Oingo Boingo’s 1985 hit “Weird Science” begins to play.

From there, the stars of past and present begin to appear, including a meeting between 1998 Ronaldo and 2002 Ronaldo, with the former giving the latter a hard time over his infamous triangular hairstyle.

Other stars to appear include Cristiano Ronaldo, Virgil van Dijk, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Edgar Davids, Sam Kerr, Alex Morgan, Leah Williamson and Carli Lloyd.

The whole thing is a tour de force. Watch it below.

Watch Nike’s 2022 World Cup ad

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Kylian Mbappé is having some regrets about that PSG extension

Just five months after signing a new deal with PSG, the superstar forward wants out

Just five months after opting to stay at PSG, Kylian Mbappé wants to leave PSG.

That is according to, well, everyone. A flood of reports on Tuesday suggested the PSG superstar wants out at Parc des Princes, despite rejecting a move to Real Madrid in May in favor of a new three-year contract at PSG.

It’s been a trying season for Mbappé despite his usual goalscoring success. The 23-year-old has been frustrated with the role he’s played under coach Christophe Galtier, which he’s made clear with posts on social media.

There have been numerous reports that his relationship with Neymar has deteriorated, with the two stars feuding on the pitch early in the season over penalty-taking duties.

Mbappé also feels betrayed by PSG’s front office according to Marca, as sporting director Luis Campos, president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Galtier all promised a host of signings over the summer that never materialized.

This doesn’t look like a player having a fun time.

Where could Mbappé go?

The forward reportedly wants to leave PSG as soon as possible, which would be this January. But where could he go?

Unsurprisingly, as ESPN reports, his preferred destination is the place he nearly went this summer, Real Madrid.

But Marca has said PSG’s relationship with Madrid has gone cold, in part due to the Liga club’s persistent recruitment of Mbappé in recent years.

The publication suggests Liverpool as a possible option, but the Merseyside club may struggle to afford the France international having recently made Mohamed Salah the most expensive player in club history with a new three-year deal worth about £350,000 a week.

In any case, Mbappé seems highly unlikely to actually leave PSG in January. But there is now abundant evidence that the superstar’s relationship with the club is badly damaged, if not broken. Five months after the Mbappé transfer saga seemingly ended, it is very much back up and running.

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Galtier and Mbappé on taking a two-hour train ride to a game: LOL

The PSG coach and star are in some hot water over their dismissal of climate concerns

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier and star forward Kylian Mbappé are not making many friends in the movement to fight climate change.

PSG came in for criticism for taking a short flight to its game at Nantes on Saturday, a journey that used far more fossil fuel than taking a train.

Alain Krakovitch, the head of France’s state-owned railway company SNCF, hit out at the club on Twitter.

“Paris-Nantes is in less than two hours by TGV (SNCF’s high-speed passenger train),” Krakovitch said.

“I renew our proposal for a TGV offer adapted to your specific needs in line with our common interests — safety, speed, services and eco-mobility,” he added.

In a press conference on Monday, Galtier was quizzed on Krakovitch’s comments, which prompted Mbappé to burst out laughing.

Galtier said with a smile: “I knew this question was coming,” before proceeding to mock the entire idea of the proposition.

“This morning we talked about it with the company who organizes our trips and we’re looking into traveling on sand yachts.”

Galtier and Mbappe may have found the idea funny, but Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo didn’t.

“Are you serious, responding like this???,” Hidalgo tweeted. “Wake up guys???”

PSG is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of Qatar’s state-owned sovereign wealth fund. The country also owns Qatar Airways, which is the club’s official airline partner and shirt sponsor.

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France is really outdoing itself with this witch doctor scandal

Pogba. Mbappé. Gangsters. Extortion. A witch doctor. This one has it all

The France men’s national team and scandal go together like a baguette and Brie. If France were to go into a World Cup without some kind of controversy hanging over the team, it would almost be a scandal unto itself.

But Les Bleus have really outdone themselves with this latest affair, involving two of their best players, extortion, gangsters and, perhaps most importantly, an alleged witch doctor’s curse.

The details, honestly, are a bit unnecessary to understanding the sheer ridiculousness of this entire scandal. Let’s just read this tweet to get a feel for what we are dealing with here.

This is truly a work of art, each word more insane than the last.

To briefly summarize France’s latest national team scandal: Paul Pogba has claimed he is being threatened and targeted for extortion by gangsters, including his older brother Mathias, who are demanding €13 million in exchange for not releasing some compromising videos.

What, exactly, is on those videos? Well reader, that’s where we get to the witch doctor.

On Monday, night L’Equipe reported that there may indeed be video evidence of Pogba using a witch doctor to curse Mbappé. France coach Didier Deschamps and federation president Noël Le Graët have apparently been aware of the issue since March, when Pogba informed them of the extortion attempt.

Mbappé, understandably, would reportedly be a bit dismayed to see his teammate, and fellow 2018 World Cup winner, using dark magic to put a curse on him.

L’Equipe said Pogba hasn’t yet called Mbappé to provide his version of events. There also is the question of why one of France’s stars would want to curse another one of its stars just before a World Cup (or, you know, ever).

The World Cup is still a few months away, so there really is no telling where this scandal will be by the time the tournament starts. The encouraging news for anybody not hoping to see France repeat as champions, though, is that it seems to only be getting started.

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PSG is destroying Ligue 1 and already talking about an unbeaten season

Christophe Galtier’s side has won all three Ligue 1 games so far by an aggregate score of 17-3

There may not be much of a title race in Ligue 1 this season if the early returns are any indication.

PSG ran away with the league title last season and the club is in extremely ominous form in the early part of 2022-23.

Christophe Galtier’s side has won all three games so far by an aggregate score of 17-3, including a 7-1 away thrashing of Lille on Sunday that saw Kylian Mbappé score the earliest goal in Ligue 1 history after just eight seconds.

Prior to the Lille game,  Le Parisien ran a report that said Galtier and sporting director Luis Campos had challenged the locker room to become the first team in Ligue 1 history to go unbeaten in the entire season.

After the win at Lille, Galtier denied making such a challenge to his players.

“Maybe it was said in the locker room between the players but there was not a member of the management or the technical staff who spoke about going unbeaten,” he told Prime Video.

But midfielder Vitinha was a bit more open about the possibility of going 38 games without defeat.

“Yes, well the goal is already to look towards the next game, not to get too big headed,” he told L’Equipe, “We know we can do it, but for the moment we’re staying calm and we’ll take it game by game.

“We can see on the pitch that things are going well, that the team is capable of doing what the manager asks of us. We manage to reproduce in matches what he asks of us in training.”

PSG’s star trio of Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar have all started the season red hot, combining for 12 goals and eight assists in just three games.

If Mbappé, Messi and Neymar keep up the early-season form they have shown, then the only drama at the top of Ligue 1 this season may revolve around PSG’s unbeaten quest.

Watch Mbappe’s record-breaking goal

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FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition cover features a man and a woman

Men’s soccer and women’s soccer, side by side for the first time.

EA Sports has had many iconic soccer players on its FIFA franchise covers over the years, but FIFA 23 breaks a new boundary. Men’s soccer and women’s soccer, side by side for the first time.

French superstar Kylian Mbappé returns to the cover of the Ultimate Edition of FIFA 23, the 30th main release, alongside Sam Kerr, Australia and Chelsea forward, and it certainly has fans talking.

Kylian Mbappé’s inclusion is his third straight appearance on the cover, having held the prestigious place on the world’s top-selling soccer game since FIFA 21. He’s not only won the league with PSG, but he’s getting ready to defend his World Cup medal at the upcoming winter tournament in Qatar.

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However, it is Sam Kerr’s inclusion on the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition cover that has wowed fans of women’s soccer, with the Australian becoming the first female soccer player ever to hit the global cover (Alex Morgan appeared on the US release of FIFA 16).

Who is Sam Kerr?

Those who already follow women’s soccer know Sam Kerr for her dominant performances in the FA Women’s Super League for Chelsea and as the captain of the Australian national team, known as the Matildas. The 28-year-old forward has collected dozens of titles and awards, scoring crucial goals wherever she appeared.

Sam Kerr has plied her trade in her native Australia, the USA and signed for Chelsea FC for the 2019/20 season. In a blue jersey, she has twice been the club’s top scorer, scoring 32 in 34 in 2021/22 and being awarded the FAWSL Player of the Season and Golden Boot. With her goal-scoring prowess, Chelsea secured a sixth domestic title and a fourth Women’s FA Cup.

On the international scene, Kerr made her debut for Australia aged just 15, scoring her first goal in the gold and green at 16 against North Korea. She has gone on to earn over 100 caps for her country.

With the Women’s World Cup coming up in summer 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, it is set to be another almighty season for Sam Kerr.

FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition – coming soon

FIFA 23 promises to be the biggest and best yet, with fans eagerly anticipating the next installment of the hit title.

The Ultimate Edition of FIFA 23 is the title’s premium edition; past versions have included bonus content, FIFA Ultimate Team points and exclusive cosmetics, along with an early release for avid fans. 

Also teased on the cover of FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition is HyperMotion 2 technology. No details have been released yet, but fans with next-gen consoles benefitted from the first iteration of HyperMotion, which used motion capture to improve how players behaved on and off the ball. 

It’s worth noting that FIFA 23 is the 30th and last installment of EA’s FIFA series, as talks broke down between EA Sports and soccer’s global governing body, FIFA. Following FIFA 23, EA Sports will continue to release the game under the title EA Sports FC, and FIFA has announced its intention to partner with another developer to release games under the FIFA brand.

FIFA isn’t the only franchise EA Sports is getting fans hyped for. Madden 23 is announced and available Aug. 19, 2022. There’s no news on NHL 23 as of yet.

More FIFA 23 news and details will be released over the next few weeks. FIFA 23 is expected to release in September for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Stadia, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Watch this space for pre-order details and more.

Wanting to play FIFA this summer? FIFA 22 is available for free via EA Play now.

Written by Alex Bugg on behalf of GLHF. 

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Look: Cooper Kupp hung out with Kylian Mbappé at SoFi Stadium, swapped jerseys with him

Cooper Kupp hung out with Kylian Mbappé at SoFi Stadium and swapped jerseys with the PSG star

PSG star Kylian Mbappe is in Los Angeles and on Monday, he stopped by SoFi Stadium with Cooper Kupp. It’s not the hang-out session you expect to see every day, but Kupp and Mbappe seemed to have quite the day on the field in Inglewood.

Kupp shared a video of him holding a field goal attempt by Mbappe, though the clip doesn’t show whether Mbappe drilled it between the uprights. We’ll assume he did.

On Instagram, Kupp posted a shot of him and Mbappe exchanging jerseys. Kupp got a PSG jersey with his name on it, and Mbappe received a signed Rams jersey with his number 7 and name across the back.

SoFi Stadium is one of the many venues that will host World Cup matches in 2026, and it’s possible Mbappe will take the field there with his French squad.

He’s looking forward to it if things do work out that way.

Florentino Pérez says Kylian Mbappe ‘isn’t the Mbappe I wanted’ at Real Madrid

Pérez says Mbappe has changed

Florentino Pérez spoke out at length over the Kylian Mbappe transfer to Real Madrid that wasn’t.

The France star went from being on the verge of a move to Pérez’s club to signing a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain, and according to the longtime Real Madrid president, Mbappe changed along the way.

According to Pérez, PSG’s contract offer—which included extensive decision-making powers over club affairs—altered Mbappe’s mindset. Speaking to the El Chiringuito television show, Pérez said PSG “practically offered him not only to be the leader of the team, but also of the management. It was at that point that we saw it wasn’t the same Mbappe that we wanted to sign. He changed his dreams as a result of pressure… This Mbappe is not the Mbappe I wanted.”

Pérez added that he would not match contract terms that allowed for that kind of power in any one player. “At the moment we are no longer interested because no player in the history of Real Madrid has ever been above the club. We’re not going to make exceptions and risk mismanagement.”

However, in a move any sports executive would be proud of, Pérez made sure to keep the door open to a future move. “I have never said that it was finished forever between Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid. A lot of things can change in three years,” said Pérez.

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