07/04/26 08:06:00
Printable Page
07/04 20:04 CDT Kylian Mbapp of France scores 19th career World Cup goal, 1
behind Golden Boot rival Messi
Kylian Mbapp of France scores 19th career World Cup goal, 1 behind Golden Boot
rival Messi
By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) --- Kylian Mbapp of France scored his 19th career World Cup
goal, finding the net on a penalty kick in the Round of 16 against Paraguay on
Saturday and moving within one of record holder Lionel Messi of Argentina.
Mbapp stutter-stepped on his way to his 19th goal in 19 World Cup appearances,
beating Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill in the 70th minute to break a
scoreless tie. France's captain was awarded the penalty when Diego Gomez was
called for tripping after a video review.
"I've said from the first day that he had the spirit. He gave all the athletic
efforts," France coach Didier Deschamps said after Les Bleus won 1-0. "He's a
great top-notch player on the pitch. But when he speaks, he speaks for the
entire group."
It was the seventh goal of this tournament for Mbapp, matching Messi in the
race for the Golden Boot for the World Cup's top scorer. Mbapp won that award
four years ago in Qatar, but Messi and Argentina beat France in the final.
Mbapp is now the only player to score at least three goals in the knockout
stage of three World Cups. On Saturday, he endured against perhaps the most
physical opponent he's faced in this tournament.
Tempers flared in the first half when Andrs Cubas took down Mbapp and the
teams briefly pushed and shoved each other. Matas Galarza also threw his right
elbow into Mbapp and sent him crashing to the grass.
After Mbapp ignored Gill's attempt at a postgame handshake, the goalkeeper
threw a ball at the France star's back.
"We knew what kind of match it was going to be. We can also get our hands
dirty, we know how to do it," Mbapp said in French. "We know how to play ugly
football. Guess they were thinking we were going to show up in tuxedos, but we
were ready. Even at that kind of game, we were better than them. That's their
style of football. There's no right or wrong way to play the game. They tried
to beat us that way, but we won."
And the victory cleared the way for Mbapp to continue chasing Messi's career
goals mark.
Messi scored his 20th career World Cup goal in Argentina's 3-2 win over Cape
Verde on Friday night. The 39-year-old great also has goals in a record eight
consecutive World Cup games.
Norway's Erling Haaland and England's Harry Kane are next in the Golden Boot
race with five goals each.
If there's a tie in the Golden Boot standings when the tournament ends, FIFA
will use assists as the first tiebreaker and fewest minutes played as the
second tiebreaker. Mbapp has a 2-0 lead over Messi in assists.
___
See more of AP's World Cup coverage here
|
