Just three days after losing the World Cup final despite scoring a hat-trick, France’s Kylian Mbappe returned to training with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old, despite scoring twice to tie the 2018 winners’ game against Argentina in a penalty shootout, which was also led by his PSG teammate Lionel Messi, cut a dejected appearance.
PSG players were given 10 days off, but Mbappe was seen at the French champions’ practice facility.
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“Kylian Mbappe returned to training on Wednesday,” tweeted PSG.
Mbappe, who finished top scorer at the World Cup with eight goals, was not expected back till January and PSG did not say whether he would be available for selection for their Ligue 1 match with Strasbourg on December 28.
His return to training comes the day after a documentary on France’s campaign shows Mbappe giving his team-mates a rousing half-time talk in Sunday’s final following a limp first-half which saw them trail 2-0.
“It is the World Cup guys, it is the match of a lifetime!” says Mbappe in French broadcaster TF1’s documentary.
“In any case we could hardly play worse than we have already done.
“We are going back on the pitch and either we carry on playing like idiots or we up the intensity.
“It is the World Cup Final! We are losing 2-0 but we can come back.
“Hey guys, this only comes around once every four years.”
Even though Mbappe spearheaded the comeback, the team didn’t truly go into fighting mode until the 80th minute, when he converted a penalty to make it 2-1.
Mbappe would later convert his penalty in the shootout, but Argentina would not be defeated, with Gonzalo Montiel converting the game-winning free kick when Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni were both absent.
