France are one of the odds-on favorites to win the World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey next month, as it’s incredibly hard to bet against their well-rounded, star-studded squad. The 1998 and 2018 World Cup winners are absolutely stacked to the brim with world class players in every area of the pitch and it’s difficult to see an attacking line of Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and Ousmane Dembélé with the likes of Bradley Barcola, Désiré Doué, Marcus Thuram and Jean-Philippe Mateta in reserve.
For Bayern Munich, it’s Olise and Dayot Upamecano that are in the French squad for the World Cup, both of whom are regular selections in Didier Deschamps’ Les Bleus squads and are each coming off of a fantastic, domestic double season with the German Rekordmeister. Neither player really needs that much of an introduction, even in such an elite French national team squad, but ahead of their first match of the tournament against Senegal, Mbappé took the time to say something about each and every one of his France teammates in an interview with L’Equipe (transcribed via @iMiaSanMia).
“He is the player of today and tomorrow. He has that elegance and vision in his game. I get along very well with him. These days, we speak French together. He speaks it well. Then again, he has the kind of personality that means you, the media, will probably never know whether his French is improving or not, because he doesn’t talk to you very much (laughs). He doesn’t like it; that’s just who he is. Michael is an introvert. He chooses his words carefully and sparingly. But his feet do the talking for him. Accept him as he is. He will never change. On top of being an extraordinary player, he’s also a great person,” Mbappé described of Olise.
The Real Madrid striker’s worlds are similar to those of Thierry Henry’s, who had the chance to manage Olise on the French U-21 side for a period. The French legend also greatly admires the way Olise is able to move so methodically and effectively on the ball without too much flash and his ability to always stay grounded and humble. He’s a player and a character almost impossible not to like who’s ceiling is incredibly high coming off of a season where he tallied 22 goals and 31 assists from 52 appearances across all competitions.
For Upamecano, Mbappé knows that the center-back has grown into one of the world’s best defenders. A player that once struggled at Bayern under Julian Nagelsmann is now one of the first names on the team sheets for both Deschamps and Vincent Kompany.
“He is in one of the best phases of his career right now. Dayot is among the very top defenders at the moment – he’s one of the first names that comes to mind when you think about the best defenders around. He’s had a successful season, but beyond that, he has been consistently performing at a high level and hasn’t really had any dips in form throughout the campaign. I like that combination of shyness and self-confidence. At first, he comes across as very shy, but he is also completely sure of who he is. It’s great to have him around,” Mbappé said of his compatriot.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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