Bondy (France) (AFP) – Only a short cycle up the canal from central Paris towards the French capital’s deprived northern suburbs lies Bondy, the hometown of boy wonder Kylian Mbappe.
Until recently, next to the canal and the busy flyovers, on the side of a block of flats, was a mural of Mbappe, arms crossed in a Paris Saint-Germain shirt. It was accompanied by the slogan “Bondy, Villes des Possibles” — the town where anything is possible.
But the mural has now gone, with Mbappe instead popping up a few kilometres away at the Stade de France.
Outside the national stadium, Nike have reworked their famous Eric Cantona advert from the 1990s: “’98 was a great year for French football. Kylian was born.”
Two decades after Zinedine Zidane’s face was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe in the wake of France’s World Cup final win over Brazil, Mbappe carries the hopes of a nation into Saturday’s last-16 tie with Argentina in Kazan.
Back in Bondy, they are proud of a player who is already a superstar despite not turning 20 until December.
“It had become a tourist attraction in the town. Lots of people would come especially to take photos, even Asian tourists,” says 17-year-old Wael of the now-departed mural.
“He is our boy from the street who has gone on to be a success, so he is an example for us all.”
From the town’s Stade Leo-Lagrange to Monaco, a record transfer to PSG and now a World Cup tie against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, Mbappe’s trajectory is the stuff of dreams.
“The example of Kylian means that all the youngsters see themselves in him,” Athmane Airouche, the president of the local club AS Bondy, told AFP.
“He is the best player to come out of Bondy but we have brought through a fair few: more than 30 professionals!
“We really work hard at youth development. The advice that Kylian got is the same that the youngsters get now. For us there is no difference between a good player and an average one.”
He adds: “The main thing is to explain to them that while football is great, their studies are even better. If things are not going well at school, they don’t play football.”
– A sporting family –
The young Kylian was determined to follow in the footsteps of his “brother” Jires Kembo, who was raised by the Mbappe family after moving to France from what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, and who went on to become a professional, moving from Bondy to start out at Rennes.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2yWFxa6
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