Kylian Mbappe joked that Lionel Messi was a "son of a b*tch" after guiding Argentina to a World Cup final victory over France, Javier Pastore says.
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Messi helped Argentina beat France in World Cup finalPastore met up with former team after Qatar tournamentMbappe made joke about South American sensationWHAT HAPPENED?
Argentina captain Messi helped the South American nation to a penalty shootout victory against France in Qatar in 2022, despite Mbappe scoring a hat-trick for Les Bleus in the showdown. Pastore revealed he visited the Paris Saint-Germain dressing room months later and Mbappe spoke up about his then team-mate Messi.
Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesWHAT PASTORE SAID
Pastore told : "I saw [Mbappe] a couple of months after the final in Qatar, when PSG went to train and play a match. And I was in the locker room, with him, with Messi, with Neymar. I congratulated him on the World Cup and he told me: 'Noooo, this son of a bitch Messi who beat us in the World Cup…' As a joke, as if saying that Leo had won it alone."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Ex-Argentina and PSG star Pastore has been impressed by Mbappe, who he believes has a similar mindset to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He added: "I spoke a lot with Kylian, he is a very focused boy: he lost a final and the next day he was already thinking about the next thing he was going to win. He has an incredible mentality. I know him very well, I have a very nice relationship with him and he is a winner, he competes 100 per cent. I'm surprised by how serious he is at that age. That seriousness had only been seen in Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. In new generations it is very difficult to find the concentration and seriousness that Kylian has. I don't see it in other young people… maybe I do in [Erling] Haaland. But it's hard to find those traits. Kylian is always focused and willing to give more, and that always surprised me."
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR MBAPPE?
While Messi soon left PSG to join Inter Miami in his final years of his career, 25-year-old Mbappe is expected to confirm a move to Real Madrid this summer after he informed the French giants that he will leave when his contract expires at the end of the season.
