We all know that Kylian Mbappe idolized Cristano Ronaldo when he was a kid. But we don’t know the amazing story of how crazy Mbappe idolized Ronaldo when he was a kid…
Mbappe and the room full of Ronaldo posters. The boy turned his room into the Bernabeu stadium, a press conference room.
It is no surprise that the four walls of Mbappe’s childhood bedroom overlooking the Bondy Stadium were covered with posters. One wall was dedicated to Jires Kembo, his adopted brother, who was playing for Rennes at the time. Another wall featured pictures of Neymar and Eden Hazard. The remaining two were dedicated to Cristiano Ronaldo.
Remarkably, little Kylian turned his bedroom into the Bernabeu stadium and a press conference room. And, after celebrating goals with his idol and his beloved team, he shouted and conducted interviews with a fake microphone. Asking questions and answering them himself, little Kylian felt like he was living in the fairytale world of Los Blancos.
The joy of meeting an idol
On December 8, 2009, just a few days before Kylian’s 11th birthday, his parents gave him a very special gift. It was a ticket to the Velodrome stadium to watch his idol CR7 play against Marseille for Real in the Champions League group stage. The boy insisted on arriving at the stadium 2 hours early to watch Ronaldo practice and did not want to miss anything related to his idol.
Not only that, Kylian was so excited that he couldn’t stop talking and went completely crazy when Ronaldo scored twice against Marseille to help Real win 3-1. After the match, Kylian sneaked out to the parking lot to go to the press conference room in the hope of meeting his idol but the door was closed. Just as Kylian burst into tears of helplessness, the elevator at the Velodrome stadium opened, and Pape Diouf, then OM president, and Jean-Charles De Bono, former Marseille midfielder and commentator for OM TV, walked up together.
The two saw the boy sobbing, asked him what was going on and were moved by his love for his idol, so they let him into the press conference room but made him stand in a corner. Kylian promised to listen, swallowed his tears, tried to hold back his sobs and waited until CR7 appeared.
Kylian finally got Ronaldo’s autograph and photo, but when he dared to ask for his shoes, his idol refused with a smile and a friendly wink. But for a 10-year-old, meeting his idol, getting an autograph and a photo, there was no greater joy. Kylian was so happy that he walked on clouds for days. When he returned to Bondy, his friends knew that Kylian had met Ronaldo but teased him for being a “crybaby”. “I’m crazy. You guys can tease me. But I met CR7, and where were you guys?”, the boy replied sharply.
Ronaldo and Mbappe meet at EURO 2020
De Bono, cousin of former PSG coach Christophe Galtier, who was born and raised in Marseille, recalls the emotional encounter: “I thought Pape would say something like take the boy down. We couldn’t believe that the boy we had allowed to meet CR7 was Kylian Mbappe, the global superstar and captain of the French national team at the moment. It seemed like he still remembered a bald guy from OM TV, who could only be me.”
Pape Diouf died in Dakar, Senegal, at the age of 68 in 2020 from Covid-19. De Bono, for his part, received a surprise phone call. “You go home, the phone rings and you think it’s a joke, someone made a mistake? But it’s crazy, right?”, De Bono added.
In fact, it was Fayza Mbappe, Kylian’s mother, who, on behalf of the captain of the blue team, invited De Bono to attend the match in Hamburg, to thank the moment 15 years ago when he comforted, encouraged and dried Kylian’s tears, so that the boy could finally meet his idol.
After that, there were many more meetings between Mbappe and Ronaldo as opponents, in the Portuguese national team or at their respective clubs. In 2021, in an interview with Bild, Mbappe shared: “I was a kid who dreamed of many things, but above all, to have a career like Cristiano Ronaldo.
Mbappe always respects Ronaldo and the achievements that CR7 has achieved
When he plays, he brings joy to the audience. That has been going on for 15 years. I think everyone who loves football loves CR7. I was just a normal kid and I admired him. There are few players like him and I have learned a lot from watching his journey.
Most recently, when Mbappe officially joined Real Madrid, Ronaldo sent Mbappe his congratulations and believed he would shine at Bernabeu. Tomorrow morning (July 6), no matter what the result is, Mbappe will always respect his one-time idol.
