Butler: Mbappe set to become ‘modern-day Pele’
Published:Saturday | December 17, 2022 | 1:58 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FRENCH striker Kylian Mbappe could be elevated to being the new ‘poster boy’ of modern-day football tomorrow, if he claims his second World Cup title says founder of Phoenix Academy and head coach of Mona High, Craig Butler.
Defending champions France will lock horns with the Lionel Messi-led Argentina in the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup at 10 a.m. (Jamaica time). According to Butler the 23-year-old Mbappe who is currently the joint leading scorer in Qatar with six goals, along with Argentina’s Lionel Messi, will become what he has called the “modern-day Pele” if he goes on to achieve this feat.
“I think that will put him in the position of a young Pele. He has always looked the part with the pace that he has. The skills have been shown at this World Cup, especially against Morocco, and I think that will now make him the top young player and the heir apparent to Messi and Ronaldo,” Butler stated.
Mbappe, who back in the 2018 final against Croatia became the youngest player to register a goal since Pele’s in 1958, went on to lift his first crown at the age of 19. Four years later, in yet another global final, the Paris Saint-Germain striker finds himself in an enviable position.
“He has shown the class and he’s playing superb. I believe that with the ageing Messi and Ronaldo on their way out and with need to have someone to look forward to the leader of the new generation will be Mbappe,” Butler added.
The French superstar finished joint-second in the golden boot race, behind England’s Harry Kane in 2018, and with his countryman and 2022 Ballon D’or winner Karim Benzema suffering a thigh injury on the eve of the tournament, Mbappe, according to Butler, has shown the class and talent to take over the reins despite still learning his own personal game.
“They always say if you’re good enough, you’re old enough, a phrase coined by Sir Alex Ferguson. I believe the coaches that have worked with Mbappe have also dealt with him in that way. His maturity has grown and he’s become stronger at a tender age and therefore now he’s like the senior man at 23,”
Mbappe who was born on December 20, 1998, will celebrate his 24th birthday two days after the FIFA World Cup, and still Butler believes the striker is yet to hit his peak.
“Absolutely not, I think he’ll continue to another level and the other World Cup he’ll be even more dominant because you really start to mature at 24.