Duel of the giants

Mbappe wants to send his idol Ronaldo into retirement at the European Championships

Mbappe once with the young Ronaldo (l.) - and as a masked man before the clash with Portugal.

(Bild: GEPA, l‘equipe)

Cristiano Ronaldo is 14:1 in terms of goals at the European Championships. After Champions League victories 5:0, after estimated annual salary 200 million to 15 million euros. When the European Championship quarter-final between Portugal and France takes place on Friday, there is hardly a category in which Kylian Mbappé can keep up with his childhood idol. 

The children's room in the Parisian suburb of Bondy is full of posters. Cristiano Ronaldo everywhere - Kylian Mbappé was already a big fan of the Portuguese superstar at a young age. He also met him at Real Madrid, where he will play himself in the future. "I was a boy who dreamed of many things. But above all to have the same successful career as Cristiano."

(Bild: AFP)

"We want to reach the final"
Friday's quarter-final clash between the soccer giants, which the French sports bible "L'Équipe" has already dubbed "The child and his idol" - but only one of the captains of France and Portugal will "survive". For Mbappé, the goal beyond this game is clear: "We want to get to the final," emphasizes the quick-fire goalscorer, who at the age of 25 has already scored the third most goals in the history of "Les Bleus" behind record scorer Giroud and Thierry Henry.

(Bild: Krone Kreativ)

And despite his current lack of goals - he only scored a penalty in the group against Poland, France otherwise only scored own goals - Mbappé has received praise from team boss Didier Deschamps: "Kylian is a very special player. It's a completely different game with or without him." France assistant coach Guy Stephan emphasizes: "He's a top-level player. Kylian is Kylian, I don't need to list every one of his goals."

Mbappe once with the young Ronaldo (l.) - and as a masked man before the clash with Portugal.

(Bild: GEPA, l‘equipe)

Although there has only been one at a European Championship, Ronaldo has 14, this could be the record player and goalscorer's last appearance in the competition. The 39-year-old has already made it clear that this will be his last European Championship, so the five-time Champions League winner is all the more motivated.

Much criticism of captain
But will he even play from the start? His performance in the round of 16 against Slovenia, in which he attempted free kicks from crazy positions directly at the goal and sometimes hampered Portugal's attacks because his colleagues were compulsively searching for him, was a source of criticism. As a result, numerous Portuguese media outlets called on team boss Roberto Martinez to bench Ronaldo.

Liverpool's Diogo Jota or PSG striker Goncalo Ramos could take his place in the middle. Conversely, Ronaldo could also make better use of his strengths if he comes fresh off the bench against an already tired squad. What speaks against this is that "CR7" still has the support of his team, Martinez does not want to spark a petty war by dropping him from the starting eleven. Perhaps the veteran star will give "Les Bleus" of all teams a "blue miracle".