Kylian Mbappe's passion, mentality and drive are the fundamental factors that make him so special, according to France legend Thierry Henry.
Les Bleus' skipper is heavily linked with a blockbuster move to Real Madrid after it was officially announced last week that he will depart Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this campaign.
Mbappe leaves Parc des Princes as the club's all-time leading scorer, while he has just been named Ligue 1's Player of the Year for a fifth successive season, and is set to top the goalscoring charts for a sixth year running.
Still only 25 years old, he has already played in two World Cup finals - lifting the trophy in 2018 and scoring a hat-trick in the 2022 showpiece as France lost out to Argentina on penalties - and won six domestic titles.
Mbappe has also scored 46 goals in 77 caps for Les Bleus, trailing only Henry (51) and Olivier Giroud (57) on their all-time list, and will look to add the European Championship to his list of honours when he leads his country into the 2024 tournament next month.
Saluting the forward in a new BBC documentary entitled 'Mbappe', Henry said: "The great champions have something in them that I cannot describe.
"When you're a champion, you have to bring something to the table, something extra that is not normal, and that he has. The higher you go, the less normal you are.
"When it comes to this mentality and will, champions do have something that is a bit different to others.
"What I can see in this guy is passion, the will and the love of the game. If you do what needs to be done with those tools, then you're unstoppable.
"What he has achieved already, some people didn't do that in their careers, and they were outstanding players."
There are many similarities between Henry and Mbappe, most notably their styles of play with explosive attacking flair and electric speed. Both grew up in the Paris suburbs, started their senior careers at Monaco and went on to win the World Cup with France.
And the 46-year-old offered a closer insight into what makes the PSG forward on another level to his contemporaries.
"What I see is the same will of wanting to succeed," he analysed. "I don't care about anything else if you don't have that will, that drive - and Kylian has that in abundance. What makes him so special for me is easy; he thinks.
"People always talk about his speed. I know a lot of players that are fast, but can they play football at that level? No. Can they score? Can they run as fast as he does with the ball?
"Can you still see the game when you're running at full speed? You need to have a lot of tools in order to do that, and he's also clever.
"Of course, he has to work on stuff, he's still young and people forget that. He's not yet a finished article. Are you ever a finished article, whether it's in life or football?"
Pulisic says USA were 'flying' against Bolivia after inspirational display
Christian Pulisic felt the United States made a flying start to the Copa America with their impressive victory over Bolivia in Texas.
Milan star Pulisic stole the show with an eye-catching strike into the top corner, and he added an assist for Folarin Balogun as the USA opened their campaign with a 2-0 win on home soil on Sunday.
Pulisic became only the second USA player after Clint Dempsey to register a goal and an assist in a Copa America match, while he is also now the country's quickest player to reach 30 goals, doing so in his 69th game.
An inspired performance from the captain also ended a woeful run for the USA against CONMEBOL sides at this tournament, given Gregg Berhalter's side had previously lost eight of 10 such games.
Pulisic felt that USA could easily have won by a greater margin, with the strong performance making a statement ahead of their next group games against Panama and Uruguay.
"We should build some confidence from this and feel good," Pulisic said after the game.
"We came out flying with a lot of intensity and obviously that early goal helped us a lot.
"It's Copa America, it's a big tournament. I feel like I'm always pretty excited after I score, but it's a big moment, it's a major tournament.
"All around, it was a pretty dominant performance. I think we could have put it away and had more goals there.
"The games are just going to get tougher and tougher as the tournament goes on, so we have got to be ready."
Defender Antonee Robinson also felt USA could easily have won by more.
"If we were being picky, we could have been a lot more clinical," the Fulham player said. "We could have put another two or three goals away, but getting off to a win to start with is massive for us.
"Build the confidence, show we are here to win, here to play and it puts us in good stead for the next game."
USA head coach Berhalter was delighted with the impact made by Pulisic, whose opening strike had an expected goals (xG) tally of just 0.037.
The tournament hosts racked up 20 shots, finding the target with eight, compared to tallies of six and three respectively for Bolivia.
As part of an all-action display, Pulisic created three chances, sent in 10 crosses and superbly completed 21 of the game-high 22 passes he attempted in the final third.
"He is a selfless leader," said Berhalter. "He goes out and competes and works really hard. That helps the team.
"Then you add to the fact that he is highly skilled and can make plays on the offensive end and create chances. It is a great combination, and what you see is him supporting his teammates, him backing guys, him pushing guys.
"To me, it was an outstanding performance. He got coach's man of the match and it was much deserved.
"We will always look at chance creation as a marker of performance, and I think we created enough chances.
"I like the performance for an opening game against a difficult opponent. We are in a good position."
Bolivia, meanwhile, have now lost their last four international outings by a concerning margin of 9-1, having suffered defeats against Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and USA.
They face Uruguay, who won their opener 3-1 against Panama, on Thursday.
USA will play Panama earlier on the same day before concluding their Group C campaign against Uruguay on July 1.
Bielsa left wanting more despite Uruguay's winning start at Copa America
Marcelo Bielsa insists there is room for improvement for Uruguay, despite kicking off their Copa America campaign with a 3-1 win over Panama in Florida.
Uruguay's win saw them move level on points with hosts the United States following their victory over Bolivia in the other Group C encounter.
The 15-time winners were rewarded for their fast start when Maximilian Araujo curled home his first international goal in the 16th minute.
However, Panama would grow into the contest as Jose Fajardo and Jose Rodriguez squandered golden opportunities for Thomas Christiansen's side.
And their wastefulness was punished late on as Darwin Nunez, who had missed several chances in the game, settled Uruguay's nerves with a calm finish.
Matias Vina furthered La Celeste's advantage in the first minute of injury-time with a header, only for Michael Amir Murillo to net a late consolation for Panama.
However, Bielsa was quick to temper expectations despite the triumph, insisting his side must improve to secure a record 16th Copa America crown.
The 68-year-old took charge of Uruguay in May last year, beating both Argentina and Brazil in World Cup qualifiers.
"When it comes to Uruguay's aspirations, we will see that and build it match by match," he told reporters.
"My expectation is that each match will increasingly help us to improve on our level. Uruguay has players of a very good level and we need to see if I can build with those players."
Uruguay continue their group campaign against Bolivia in New Jersey on Thursday, before facing the USA at the Arrowhead Stadium next Tuesday.
Bielsa left wanting more despite winning start at Copa America
Marcelo Bielsa insists there is room for improvement for Uruguay, despite kicking off their Copa America campaign with a 3-1 win over Panama in Florida.
Uruguay's win saw them move level on points with hosts the United States following their victory over Bolivia in the other Group C encounter.
The 15-time winners were rewarded for their fast start when Maximilian Araujo curled home his first international goal in the 16th minute.
However, Panama would grow into the contest as Jose Fajardo and Jose Rodriguez squandered golden opportunities for Thomas Christiansen's side.
And their wastefulness was punished late on as Darwin Nunez, who had missed several chances in the game, settled Uruguay's nerves with a calm finish.
Matias Vina furthered La Celeste's advantage in the first minute of injury-time with a header, only for Michael Amir Murillo to net a late consolation for Panama.
However, Bielsa was quick to temper expectations despite the triumph, insisting his side must improve to secure a record 16th Copa America crown.
The 68-year-old took charge of Uruguay in May last year, beating both Argentina and Brazil in World Cup qualifiers.
"When it comes to Uruguay's aspirations, we will see that and build it match by match," he told reporters.
"My expectation is that each match will increasingly help us to improve on our level. Uruguay has players of a very good level and we need to see if I can build with those players."
Uruguay continue their group campaign against Bolivia in New Jersey on Thursday, before facing the USA at the Arrowhead Stadium next Tuesday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
