KYlian Mbappé was one of the protagonists in the special dedicated to the sports stars of Vanity Fair. Madrid’s number 10 and captain of the French team spoke about the imminent World Cup and all the news of the men of Deschamps.
Pressure: “It is difficult to be in a situation like ours, where everyone expects us to perform miracles. But miracles only happen on the field; there is no need to play the game before the game.”
On the scrutiny to which national athletes have been subjected by French public opinion in relation to their diverse origins: “We are French! French people love to complain. French people love to be dissatisfied. We are simply French. So: French people judging French people… that’s what it is. I think a French person is happier when they are not happy. Because it’s true: we criticize everything. And I say ‘we’ because I’m like that too!”
The idea that athletes should remain silent: “We are citizens and we couldn’t sit idly by, telling ourselves that everything was going to be fine and go play. We really tried to fight against this idea that a footballer should keep quiet and limit himself to playing.”
“People sometimes think that because you have money, because you’re famous, those kinds of problems don’t affect you. But they do affect me, because I know what they mean and what kind of consequences they can have for my country when those kinds of people take control. So we are citizens. We have the right to give our opinion like anyone else.”
Advantages and disadvantages of being famous: “It’s okay. Of course, it’s hard, because you have the feeling that you no longer belong to yourself, that you belong to everyone. But, at the same time, it is a life that we choose. Maybe not to this point, but we chose it anyway. We committed to this”
Having grown up in the spotlight, he admits that perspective has come to him over time: “I haven’t always been able to handle this situation very well… because I became famous very young. And that’s why I didn’t have the maturity, the open-mindedness or the empathy necessary to sometimes put myself in other people’s shoes and understand that, sometimes, they will only see me once; they will never see me again, except on television. So now I try to be a little more understanding, even if sometimes people cross the line.”