XtraTime Web Desk: The comparison began since the French superstar started blossoming for AS Monaco a few years back. After exchanging praise for one another for months, football icon Pele and France’s World Cup hero Kylian Mbappe finally met on Tuesday at an event organized by a Swiss watchmaker in a lavish Parisian hotel.
When Kylian Mbappe netted France’s final goal in a 4-2 win over Croatia last July, he became only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final – emulating Pele.
Their meeting had initially been planned for last November but was cancelled because of the 78-year-old Pele’s poor health at the time.
‘I think he is envying me, that’s why he is trying to emulate me,’ a relaxed Pele joked after they were introduced on a small stage.
‘His style, the way he is playing, is Latino. Even Brazilian I would say. It’s a shame he did not play for Santos. But it’s not too late.’
Mbappe’s rise to the top has been meteoric. After impressing with his former club Monaco, he received his first call-up with France in March 2017.
He was sold to PSG that summer and won the World Cup less than 12 months later. Mbappe’s most memorable game in Russia was in in a 4-3 victory against Argentina where he scored twice, earned a penalty and showed off his blistering speed under the eye of a powerless Lionel Messi.
Mbappe said he knew that he would ‘enter history’ alongside Pele with a goal in the World Cup final.