‘Lying or stupid’ Mbappe told to ‘quit football’ in FURIOUS rant

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 6 Sept 2024 12:42 BST
• 4 min read

Real Madrid ace Kylian Mbappe has been told he is either “lying or stupid” for comments that he made with the France national team.

Mbappe scored his first LaLiga goal for Real Madrid last weekend against Real Betis in a 2-0 victory to quell growing criticism of his slow start at the Bernabeu.

He finds himself, however, in the midst of a fresh drama as he returns to his homeland to play for the first time since leaving PSG as a free agent in the summer.

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Current ETV

Kylian Mbappé

F (C)

Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappé

F (C)

Real Madrid

€153.9M

ETV Range

€115.4M - €192.4M

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Questioned about France’s poor quality of play at Euro 2024, despite making the semi-final of the competition, Mbappe replied: “I’m at a stage in my life and my career where I don’t notice the criticism anymore.

“I come, I play, I try to do my best and to help the team. What people think is the least of my worries.”

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Mbappe slammed for ‘deplorable attitude’

The words of Mbappe, who is France’s captain, did not go down well with prominent journalist Daniel Riolo, who embarked on an angry rant on RMC.

“You are clearly speaking to someone who has a deplorable attitude,” he claimed. “Either he is lying or he is stupid.

“The captain of France can’t speak like Mbappe. When you’re in the France team, which belongs to the whole country, don’t you have the responsibility to build a bond with people?

“If you say that, quit playing football because the stadium is full of people who have come to think and experience emotions.

“You can't have the attitude, in France, of a jaded, contemptuous man, but when you're facing the Spanish media, it's all smiles, shoe-shining, a little wink.

“You’re making fun of everyone, and the worst thing is that you think people won’t notice.

“He’s coming out of a completely failed European Championship, he’s had a bad attitude for several months, he’s not even friendly anymore and he’s giving the image of someone contemptuous. He’s going two kilometres backwards in the idea of reaching out to people.

“He cannot say that he does not care what people think since he is a player who benefits from the services of the most cutting-edge communication agencies in Paris. If you have people who manage everything around your life, it means that you pay attention to your image and what impression you give.

“You cannot say that 'people's opinions are the least of your worries' or it means that you have not understood what is happening around you, which I do not believe. That’s not normal. It’s contemptuous.”

France face Italy in Nations League action on Friday.