Courtesy of Kaan 11 – the official broadcaster of the 2022 World Cup. Live broadcasts, summaries, statistics and more await you on Kaan’s World Cup page
The quarter-final stage of the World Cup arranged for us a number of great meetings, with the biggest of them all undoubtedly being the battle between the world champion, France, and the European runner-up, England. The most talked about matchup ahead of Saturday’s game is between Kylian Mbappe, the top scorer of the tournament so far, and the defender of England and Manchester City, Kyle Walkerwho will try to stop the fiery striker.
Walker himself understands the expectations that are placed on him in the face of everything to do with stopping Mbappe, and at a press conference today he said: “It’s England against France, not England against Mbappe. We’ll give him the respect but I’m not going to roll out a red carpet for him to win. It’s a game of To be or to stop, because if we lose we will go home.”
“I understand what I have to do and that’s to stop him. It’s probably easier said than done but I’m not giving up. I’ve run into great players before so I’m just treating it like another game. I’ll give him the respect he deserves but not too much because we England. There is no player who is bigger than a team, this is not tennis, this is not an individual sport.”
Even before the victory over Senegal in the round of 16, Gary Lineker claimed that England coach Gareth Southgate should let Walker rest against the Senegalese to be ready for Mbappe at the next stage. Lineker claimed that Mbappe will be critical in dealing with the star and that he must be protected at all costs: “Why would you play with Mbappe when he is the only defender in the whole world who can deal with Mbappe?”.
“It’s not that I don’t respect Senegal, but you have to let him rest. Especially in a position where we’re blessed and can go up with Kieran Trippier or Trent Alexander-Arnold instead.” In the end, by the way, Walker completed 90 minutes in the victory over Senegal.