In May 2014, young Mbappé – then 15 years old – and his friends at the A.S Monaco football academy were given an assignment to reflect on the future. In that exercise, they had to design a magazine cover with their own image.
An idea immediately flashed in Mbappé’s mind. He doesn’t copy an edition of Paris Match or GQ or even French Vogue like a friend. He chose the cover of TIME magazine. With her frontal portrait, her head is tilted slightly to one side and her hands are clasped slightly under her chin. The header of the picture, in bold white text, calls him “El Maestro” – Conductor. The smaller text in the corner of the magazine declared him the best young player in the world, the top priority of the French coach. The future of football.
From a boy’s imagination, that “fake” cover was a premonition. Just four years later, Mbappé appeared on the cover of TIME magazine – this time the real thing. Daily headlines become prophecies. At the age of 19, Mbappé helped lead France to the 2018 World Cup, becoming the first teenager since Pele to score in the final.
He is widely seen as one of the best young players and, of course, represents the so-called future. In the 2022 World Cup, a day before his 24th birthday, Mbappe once again made history when he scored a hat-trick in the final against Argentina. The last time people saw such a hattrick was in… 1966. Thanks to that achievement, Mbappe also won the Golden Shoe title from Messi’s hand, even though it was Messi who touched the championship trophy.
Looking back at the cover photo at the age of 15, even Mbappe can only utter two words “Crazy”. By: “You are 15 years old and you have ambitions, every child is not. But when all of that comes true in just a few years, it’s called madness.” At the age of 24, Mbappé became the highest scorer in World Cup final history. The most valuable player in the world with a valuation of up to 189 million euros, after an unprecedented contract with PSG for 571 million euros.
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source: kenh14
