Kylian Mbappe has reportedly been hiding the Budweiser logo on his World Cup man of the match awards as he prefers not to be associated with alcohol brands.
The France forward is currently leading the race for the Golden Boot in Qatar, with his brace in Sunday’s last-16 win over Poland taking his tally to five goals at the tournament ahead of Saturday’s meeting with England.
Mbappe has picked up the Budweiser sponsored man of the match trophy in three of France’s four games, but when posing for photos with it he is seen turning it around so that the logo of the alcohol giants can’t be seen.
L’Equipe., via Fox News, report that he is doing this on purpose as he has an image rights policy which includes no promotion of alcohol, junk food or sports betting.
Clean cut Mbappe wants to keep up his squeaky clean image, and has been prepared to pay fines for not appearing at post-match press conferences, something that the man of the match is required to do at the tournament.
Having previously avoided media duties he finally broached the subject after the Poland game on Sunday, saying: “I have nothing against journalists, if I didn’t come to talk it’s because I need to fully concentrate on the competition and not waste energy on other things.
Mbappe has picked up three man of the match award
“This World Cup is my obsession, it is the competition of my dreams. I have built my entire season around this competition, I have prepared myself to the fullest both physically and mentally to win it, which is the goal I have set for myself, although it is still far away.
“The only goal is to win the World Cup, the rest is secondary.”
Mbappe will be the key man when France take on England on Saturday, and former England defender Gary Neville says that Kyle Walker is the only one member of the Three Lions squad who possesses the ability to stop the Paris Saint-Germain forward.
“I can’t think of another right-back in the world, I might be a little bit ignorant here, that I’d want to put up against him,” Neville told ITV Sport.
“That’s not to say Kyle will mark him out of the game. This is a sensational player, the new best player in the world. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo coming to the end of their careers. Devastating, absolutely devastating.
“Kyle will go closer to him, more pace than what the Polish defenders had but absolutely incredible those strikes.”
Kylian Mbappe had been avoiding facing the press ( Image: YouTube)
Neville’s former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane added: “‘I think it’s almost impossible to stop him, that’s why he’s the world’s best player.
“They make it impossible to stop him, that’s not to say you can’t win the game of football.
“England, look at their own attackers. You double up, you get bodies around him, if you give him that much space you will be in trouble.
“But England will have enough to give them problems on their end.”
