England defender Kyle Walker is nicely conscious that coping with France’s Kylian Mbappe within the World Cup quarter-finals won’t be straightforward, and he’s counting on his expertise of enjoying towards match top-scorers up to now.
England progressed to the final 16 with a 3-0 win over Senegal, the place world champions Poland had been knocked out in a mouth-watering conflict with France, with Mbappe scoring two targets to make it 5 in Qatar.
The focus can be on whether or not 32-year-old Walker, who returned from groin surgical procedure forward of the World Cup, can deal with the tempo of 23-year-old Mbappe.
The defender, nevertheless, stated that they weren’t enjoying a “singles game” like tennis, however a group recreation the place they must work collectively.
“I understand what I need to do and it’s obviously to stop him. It’s probably easy to say, but I don’t underestimate myself. I’ve played him before,” Walker stated on Wednesday.
“I’ve to take additional care and provides him the respect he deserves – however not an excessive amount of respect as a result of he’s additionally enjoying for England and we will trigger him issues.
Walker described the sport as “do or die”, including to Mbappe: “He’s not going to stand in my way of my hope of winning the World Cup for my country.”
‘Great participant’
Walker performed for Mbappe when Manchester City had been knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain within the semi-finals of the 2020-21 Champions League they usually met once more within the group stage the next season.
“Obviously experience is always going to help,” Walker stated.
“He’s a fantastic player in great form, so it’s not going to be an easy task… I think he’s one of the best, if not the best, in the world at the moment.”
England coach Gareth Southgate has been accused of enjoying with the handbrake up to now, however Walker stated the camp is extra assured after making 12 appearances in Qatar and conceding simply two targets.
“It’s a great opportunity to make a mark and say that we are a good team and we can achieve big things. I think it will finally give us the belief that we can really go ahead and win this are,” Walker stated.
“To beat a big team like France in a quarter-final match, the world champions, you have to take some confidence from him – not arrogance, but confidence.”
He additionally dismissed criticism of Southgate’s dealing with of earlier tournaments, saying that the group and its techniques had developed.
“We have progressed in this tournament, playing really good attacking football and scoring goals.”
Midfielder Declan Rice didn’t practice with the squad on Wednesday because of sickness, whereas striker Callum Wilson underwent rehabilitation work in an indoor session.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
