It has been just over a week since Kylian Mbappe lost the final of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Mbappe’s France was defeated by Lionel Messi’s Argentina with a 4-2 scoreline after the penalty shootouts. In what was probably Messi’s final World Cup match, he made sure that Argentina secured their third World Cup title after a span of 36 years. Argentina’s victory celebrations, however, have raised a lot of eyebrows.
QUE AGRADABLE SUJETO @emimartinezz1 pic.twitter.com/LBiQe7I6XZ
— Mati (@matiasnfranco7) December 20, 2022
Just after the World Cup final, a video emerged on Instagram where Emi Martinez was singing songs along with his teammates mocking the French star. Later, during Argentina’s trophy parade in Buenos Aires, Martinez’s actions were further scrutinized. Martinez was seen holding a baby doll with its face covered with a picture of Mbappe. Although Kylian Mbappe had not responded to these celebrations so far, he recently spoke about it during a post-match interview.
Kylian Mbappe unfazed by Emi Martinez’s distasteful celebrations
Paris Saint-Germain played their first Ligue 1 match after the FIFA World Cup 2022 against Strasbourg yesterday night. Mbappe scored a last-minute penalty to give PSG a 2-1 win. After the match, during the post-match interviews, a journalist from RMC Sport asked about Mbappe’s response to Emi Martinez and Argentina’s World Cup victory celebrations.
Kylian Mbappé on Emiliano Martinez’s celebrations:
“Celebrations are not my problem. I don’t waste my energy on such trivial things. The most important thing for me is to give the best of myself for my club.” 🇫🇷🗣️ pic.twitter.com/RvJl5WXec0
— PSG Report (@PSG_Report) December 28, 2022
However, the 24-year-old Mbappe gave a classy response to the question. Mbappe said, “Celebrations are not my problem. I don’t waste my energy on such trivial things. The most important thing for me is to give the best of myself for my club.”
🚨 Mbappe on Messi : “I spoke to Leo after the final, to say congrats, it was the quest of a lifetime for him, for me too but I failed.…The most important thing for me is to give my best for the club and we will wait for Leo to come back, to score goals and win games.” pic.twitter.com/MI2iiS6ipb
— All Sportz 🏀⚽ (@Allsportztv) December 29, 2022
There were also rumors of an ongoing rift between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe. However, Mbappe praised Messi and congratulated his PSG teammate on his World Cup victory. Mbappe said, “I spoke to Leo after the final, to say congrats, it was the quest of a lifetime for him, for me too but I failed. The most important thing for me is to give my best for the club and we will wait for Leo to come back, to score goals and win games.”
It will be interesting to see how Messi and Mbappe link up together in the second half of the season. Mbappe and Messi have been in scintillating form for PSG this season. PSG need both their stars to replicate their form during the World Cup as PSG will be looking to end its quest for Champions League glory this season.