Kyle Walker: “I respect Kylian Mbappé, but I’m not going to put a red carpet on him”

He has been appearing for several days as the Englishman who can stop kylian mbappe Y Kyle Walker He does not reject the role, but acknowledges that “it will not be easy” and that it will not be enough to stop the French striker, author of five goals so far in the World Cup, to go to the semifinals.

“We respect him a lot, we know he’s in very good shape, but I’m not going to lay out a red carpet for him and invite him to score. I’m here to represent my country in a World Cup and we got to a match that will be life or death. mbappe It is not going to impose itself on my way to win the World Cup for my country”, said the Manchester City player.

The 32-year-old defender admits that mbappe “He is one of the best in the world, if not the best” and that one of the challenges is

“play against the best”.

“Who is faster? Hopefully on Saturday he plays and we can see him, ”she said.

“I don’t underestimate myself. I have played against him and against other great players. In that sense, nothing changes, it’s just another game, I have to be careful and give it the respect it deserves. But no more, because we are England and we can hurt them too, ”he indicated.

Walker recalled that he has already faced mbappe with the City shirt, an experience that he hopes to take advantage of and from which he remembers that even then PSG “was something more than mbappe”.

“It is one more tool in his arsenal, but not the only one. There are other very important players who have also won titles, including world. Let’s not forget Giroud, who has scored many goals with France and also in England, Dembelé, who for me is just as good (as Mbappé) on the other flank or Griezmann. All players can hurt you, ”he stressed.

“I understand that they only ask me about him, because he is a great player, but he should not make us forget that there are others,” he said.

Walker He considers that England has options to win the World Cup: “We are in the quarterfinals, we have not yet matched what we did in the last World Cup or the Euro Cup, but we are going in the right direction. Confidence is high with the squad we have, we are scoring goals and we don’t fit in too well”.

For now, the defender prefers to stay with the next rival, “a tough team that is world champion and that needs to be on top and have a good plan to beat them.”