Subbasic: Mbappe is very educated, to beware of France's quick counter-attacks [xueting]
2025-03-19
Croatia will host France in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals. Before the game, Croatian famous Subbasic accepted the national media interview, when talking about former club teammate Mbappe, he did not hesitate to praise.
Q: Can you remember the first time you met Mbappe?
A: If I remember correctly, the first time he trained with us was when he was 16 years old, and actually before that I had heard about him that he was a very fast and powerful player, but I didn't know how fast he was until I saw him in person. From the day he arrived, it was very clear to me that he was far above his peers.
Q: How long have you worked together? What impression did he make on you?
A: We have worked together for a year and a half and he has great respect for the senior players, there is no doubt that he is a very cultured person, he is a good person, he gets along with everyone very quickly and we all say that he is a good boy (laughs). Our highlight was winning the Ligue 1 title in 2017 and reaching the last four of the Champions League, when Monaco were very strong, we had Mbappe, Falcao, Lemar, Fabinho, Bernardo Silva, Bakayoko and other stars, and our football was great to watch.
Q: What do you think of the match against France?
A: Considering Thuram can't play, Mbappe will probably play in the centre forward, we have to be ready for everything. They are very quick and very threatening in attack and we have to be especially wary of their quick counter-attacks. We know the French team very well and we have the quality to match them. The first leg is at home and we have to try to get a good result.
