sport
Kylian Mbappe: The boy from Bondy who never forgot his birthplace
[su_label type=”info”]SMA News – Agencies [/su_label][su_spacer size=”10″] ‘I can be someone, I can be someone,” say the kids playing football in Bondy, Kylian Mbappe’s birthplace.
The 19-year-old, who wasn’t even born when France won their first World Cup, traveled to Russia 2018 with the label of the world’s most promising teenager.
He returned with the World Cup trophy and a reputation as the heir apparent to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the world’s best player.
His return to France on Monday also shone a spotlight on Bondy, just over 10 kilometers from the Stade France in Paris, where the French national team plays its home games.
Bondy is a place Mbappe has never forgotten.
He’s donating his World Cup winnings — reportedly as much as $500,000 — to Premiers de Cordée, a charity that offers sporting opportunities to children who are hospitalized or have disabilities, which is based at the Stade de France. The charity confirmed to CNN they will receive Mbappe’s winnings in September.
“Children have stars in their eyes, when they see Kylian,” says Premiers de Cordée spokeswoman Ninon Bardel, adding Mbappe has been working with them for around a year.
“Sometimes they have some difficulties to realize that he is real, it’s quite fun. But Kylian has a such ease with them that everything become normal and simple. He says himself that the stars are children.
“‘Premiers de cordée’ is a french mountain expression,” continues Bardel. “The ‘premier de cordée’ is the one in front of us who brings all the others to the top.
“We, our association, would like that the kids feel able to move, practice sport and keep up the morale to get out and realize theirs dreams. It’s a metaphor. We try to take them, thanks to sport, where they do not necessarily feel able to go.”
In the streets where Mbappe used to play football, the star — through his sponsorship with Nike — had a futsal pitch installed for the community.
The 19-year-old, who wasn’t even born when France won their first World Cup, traveled to Russia 2018 with the label of the world’s most promising teenager.
He returned with the World Cup trophy and a reputation as the heir apparent to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the world’s best player.
His return to France on Monday also shone a spotlight on Bondy, just over 10 kilometers from the Stade France in Paris, where the French national team plays its home games.
Bondy is a place Mbappe has never forgotten.
He’s donating his World Cup winnings — reportedly as much as $500,000 — to Premiers de Cordée, a charity that offers sporting opportunities to children who are hospitalized or have disabilities, which is based at the Stade de France. The charity confirmed to CNN they will receive Mbappe’s winnings in September.
“Children have stars in their eyes, when they see Kylian,” says Premiers de Cordée spokeswoman Ninon Bardel, adding Mbappe has been working with them for around a year.
“Sometimes they have some difficulties to realize that he is real, it’s quite fun. But Kylian has a such ease with them that everything become normal and simple. He says himself that the stars are children.
“‘Premiers de cordée’ is a french mountain expression,” continues Bardel. “The ‘premier de cordée’ is the one in front of us who brings all the others to the top.
“We, our association, would like that the kids feel able to move, practice sport and keep up the morale to get out and realize theirs dreams. It’s a metaphor. We try to take them, thanks to sport, where they do not necessarily feel able to go.”
In the streets where Mbappe used to play football, the star — through his sponsorship with Nike — had a futsal pitch installed for the community.
