Past forward: Run Mbappe run

It’s been four years. Four years since a 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe tore the heart out of Argentina and announced himself to the world with a run of such rare abandon that one could only perhaps put it down to youth.

A more experienced hand would have perhaps tried to hold the ball up, keep possession and wait for his teammates to join him. But Mbappe just ran because that is what he did then and still does now.

Cut to 2022, Morocco were tough opponents and they were up for it. Reputations seem to matter little to them and even when they went behind courtesy an acrobatic finish by Theo Hernandez in the fifth minute, they didn’t shirk from the fight.

Rather, they grew into the match, shed their defensive skin and forced the defending champions to defend desperately. Still, from time to time, Sofyan Amrabat and Achraf Dari and Achraf Hakimi would track back frantically, especially when the ball would find its way to Mbappe.

A couple of heavy challenges had the Frenchman limping but he stayed on because his presence kept Morocco honest; he kept them from throwing even more players in the front line. The memories of 2018 still haunt some and serve as a warning for others.

According to data by Opta, there have been five instances of a France player completing 5+ dribbles in a FIFA World Cup match across the last two tournaments; all five of them have been by Mbappe. He comes at you like no one else in the Les Bleus. But for the most part, he was kept in check. His runs were countered and there was always some cover too.

But then in the second half, just after Olivier Giroud was taken off, Mbappe moved into a more central position as Marcus Thuram took over the left wing and then suddenly in one moment, he sparked to life.

He zig-zagged dramatically between two players on the edge of the penalty box. He isn't all pace. His shot hit Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, who had just come on, and ricocheted across the area to give Randal Kolo Muani an open goal. The goal seemed to put the result beyond Morocco.

The 2018 effect

When Mbappe is involved, things seem to progress at the speed of light. Take your mind back to 2018 again, from the moment he chanced upon a loose ball near France’s penalty area, some 80 yards away from Argentina’s goal, he had no second thoughts about what he should do next. All he wanted to do was run. So, he saw the gap and ran. The most basic of acts. Kick the ball and run after it. Most of us have done it in school. Mbappe was doing it at the World Cup and it was working.

At first, he simply looked to lead the counter. Argentina were on the attack, their players in forward positions. But as Mbappe ran, the field seemed to open up. It wasn't quite Moses parting the Red Sea but you get the picture. He initially had two Argentina players in his path. Just as he started to outpace them, Javier Mascherano arrived or he thought he did.

For it didn't matter. Mbappe tapped the ball into space, put on the afterburners and left all three in his wake. Faster and faster, until he finally reached Marcos Rojo (the fourth Argentina player to come his way). He did what he does -- kicked the ball forward and ran some more. Fifty metres at almost full sprint. In hindsight, it looked like the Frenchman’s final touch was a bit too heavy and the ball would go out through the byline.

Just as Mbappe was about to overtake Rojo too, the Argentine defender panicked and brought him down to concede a penalty. Antoine Griezmann (13') stepped up to convert from the spot but it really was Mbappe’s goal.

Messi class

Messi goes on runs too. But he is an entirely different beast. The ball seems to stay so close to his body that no defender is comfortable with the idea of lunging in. You do that and he'll make you dance. He'll lead you one way, as Josko Gvardiol found out, and then escape in plain sight.

What the Argentina legend does is brutal in its own right but it is charming too. It is the stuff of childhood fantasies -- to nutmeg someone, to sneak into their blind spot, to find the pass that no one else sees.

Mbappe doesn't have the same level of finesse. But he makes up for that with sheer pace; he goes through defenders like a hot knife through butter. While Messi feints, Mbappe challenges you to stop him if you can.

We saw that multiple times against Morocco too. Push the ball down the touchline and run. Push it across the field and run. Sometimes, just run without the ball. Over and over again, until he finally catches you napping. Then, freed from the shackles, he surges forward at a pace that sometimes even cameras struggle to capture.

So run Mbappe run, for when you do the world seems to stop. It did for Morocco. Will it for Argentina too?

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