Matty Cash has described what it is like to face Kylian Mbappe, with the Polish defender saying the Frenchman is “the quickest thing I’ve ever seen”.

 

PSG star shining at Qatar 2022Helped Les Bleus into quarter-finalsPoland left trailing in his wake

WHAT HAPPENED? Aston Villa full-back Cash came up against the Paris Saint-Germain superstar in the last-16 of the 2022 World Cup, with Les Bleus prevailing 3-1 in that contest as their 23-year-old talisman bagged a brace and Olivier Giroud made history with his 52nd international goal. Trying to contain the threat posed by a flying forward proved to be impossible for Poland, with Cash conceding that trying to contain Mbappe is a thankless task.

WHAT THEY SAID: Cash said: “I spent the afternoon watching his clips and I knew it was going to be a tough test, but when he gets the ball, stops and moves, he’s the quickest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m watching the videos while lying in bed! In real life he’s burning my legs, that’s the difference. I got into a couple of races with him, and I did alright. You look over your shoulder and he’s there.

“He’s obviously unbelievable and probably my toughest opponent by far. He’s probably in the top two, three players in the world at the minute. I didn’t know whether to drop off or go tight, and when I went tight he just spun in behind. I did everything I could, when it was one-on-one I thought I’d done OK against him, he didn’t really run me once.

“There were times where he got space on the counter-attack which is where he scored the second goal, and that’s where he hurts teams, but everyone saw tonight and in two, three, four years what he can do to teams, and he does that week-in, week-out.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mbappe has broken a record once held by Pele as the youngest player to pass eight goals at World Cup finals and appears destined to chase down Giroud’s new all-time goal mark for France at some stage in the near future.

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WHAT NEXT? Next up for Mbappe is a meeting with England in the quarter-finals of Qatar 2022 on Saturday, with Didier Deschamps’ side still on track to claim back-to-back global crowns.