On the football fields where Kylian Mbappé 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 superstar바카라s 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 Mbappé in his boyhood first discovered his knack and taste for running rings around other players.
Now, with those same skills on his sport바카라s biggest stage, Mbappé not only has a chance on Sunday to emulate Brazilian great Pelé by winning a second World Cup but also to demonstrate how his success is no accident.
Mbappé 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.
Since the Cold War ended, no country has had more success in ensuring that one winning generation is then followed by others. France바카라s first World Cup triumph of 1998 바카라 which was also momentous for French football because that was the year Mbappé was born 바카라 was followed by its national team reaching the final again in 2006 (lost to Italy), 2018 (won against Croatia) and again now in Qatar.
Although Brazil, Germany and Italy still have more titles overall, making the final for the fourth time in 24 years allows France to lay claim to being the World Cup바카라s top performer of the last three decades, even if it loses to Argentina on Sunday.
Small clubs like AS Bondy, where Mbappé enrolled as a boy and quickly caught attention as a fleet-footed prodigy, are start points on France바카라s football production lines. Just as Mbappé did when he was a youngster, boys following in his wake picture themselves becoming professional footballers 바카라 not least because Mbappé and others who wore the club바카라s green jersey are setting the example.
바카라It motivates me, boosts me, makes me want to work even harder,바카라 says Yacine Ngamatah, age 12. He scored four of his team바카라s 10 goals on Saturday against a club from another Paris suburb. The punchy midfielder has already tried out with a professional team, Dijon, which plays in the second tier of the French league.
Because Ngamatah runs and runs, seemingly never tiring, his teammates바카라 nickname for him is N바카라Golo Kanté, after France바카라s indefatigable midfielder who is sitting out this World Cup after hamstring surgery. Kanté also made his football start in a Paris-region team, Suresnes.
바카라We have nothing to envy the Brazilians,바카라 says Yacine바카라s father, Eric Ousmane Ngamatah. 바카라There바카라s such a big reservoir of players now in France, especially the Paris region.바카라
Money or the lack of it is part of the reason. France invests heavily in sports facilities, and there are pitches, parks and playgrounds across the Paris region and beyond, along with plenty of youth coaches and teams.
But as is also true the world over, football is attractive as a cheap pastime for kids from poorer families and as a possible escape route from working-class neighborhoods like Bondy.
So the success of Mbappé and other idols inspires and motivates.
Sari, the coach of the under-13 team, says the club바카라s youngsters try so hard to play like Mbappé that they mimic and quickly master dribbles and feints like his. France defender William Saliba also is Bondy-born and made his start at the club. He, too, has his fans among its youngsters. Saliba has made one appearance for France in Qatar.
바카라Everyone learns by example,바카라 says Sari, who was born the same year as 23-year-old Mbappé and played against him when they both were boys.
바카라Our good fortune is that we have examples in the national team.바카라
Parents say they understand that very few kids make it all the way to the top. But dreams cost nothing.
바카라When I watch the France team I get all emotional, because I think maybe one day my kid, too, will be with them,바카라 Rabiah Bertrand says. Her son, 12-year-old Ilan, scored from the penalty spot Saturday while she watched shivering on the sidelines through the 8-a-side match played in freezing temperatures.
바카라They tell themselves that what Kylian can do, they can do,바카라 she adds. 바카라We parents dream, too. Everything is possible in life.바카라
