‘Mbappe doesn’t know enough about football’: Argentina’s Martinez blasts France striker ahead of FIFA World Cup final

With Argentina set to face France in the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022 final on Sunday at 8:30 PM IST, the war of words has already begun! The South American sealed a 3-0 win vs Croatia in the semi-final to book a berth in the final. Meanwhile, France beat Morocco 2-0, to reach the summit clash.

In May, Kylian Mbappe had made a statement that European nations were better prepared for Qatar 2022 than South American teams like Argentina and Brazil. He justified it by reasoning that Europeans had regular participation in high-level matches against one another which led to better experience. During the final’s pre-match press conference in Doha, Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was reminded of that statement. The 30-year-old retorted that the PSG star never played in South America. “When you don’t have this experience, it may be better not to talk about it”, he said.

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“Mbappe doesn’t know enough about football”, he further added.

Argentina have been in resurgent form since losing their opener vs Saudi Arabia in Qatar. The team has been inspired by Lionel Messi, who has scored five goals and three assists. The Argentina captain scored against Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Australia, Netherlands and Croatia. Meanwhile, his latest assist against Croatia was a game-changing moment in the game. The 35-year-old danced past Josko Gvardiol from near the middle and then cut inside the Croatia box to assist Julian Alvarez, who made it 3-0.

Ahead of the final vs France, head coach Lionel Scaloni emphasised that the summit clash is more than a battle between Messi and Mbappe. “The group is in their best moment. Tomorrow’s match is Argentina against France, beyond Messi and Mbappe. We called up a ton of players in this process. We are very happy with that. All of those who have gone through this national team left on good footing. That was achieved, without a doubt. Our biggest win is that everyone feels part of it. That is fundamental. We have to enjoy these moments until the match starts. All of this will remain in history. I am proud and enthusiastic about the moment we are living. We are on the verge of a final but the important thing is the road to get here” he said.