BONDY, France: On the football fields where Kylian Mbappe honed the feints, dribbles and shots that all of France hopes to see in the World Cup final, another generation of French kids with big dreams is already hard at work trying to follow in the superstar’s footsteps.
On the touchline, coach Rohat Sari looked on approvingly Saturday as his young players rampaged to a 10-0 victory for AS Bondy, the club in the Paris outskirts where Mbappe in his boyhood first discovered his knack and taste for running rings around other players.
Now, with those same skills on his sport’s biggest stage, Mbappe not only has a chance on Sunday to emulate Brazilian great Pele by winning a second World Cup but also to demonstrate how his success is no accident.
Mbappe is the product of a breathtakingly successful system, the latest golden name in a non-stop torrent of top-notch talent constantly being churned out by France, which arguably is outstripping the likes of Brazil, Germany and other powerhouses as a factory of football players.