Captain who ‘threw punch at Maradona’ says Mbappe’s ‘average in South America’
Ex-Paraguay captain Jose Luis Chilavert claimed Kylian Mbappe would be ‘average’ in South America.
Chilavert, who is no stranger to trouble, made 74-caps in goal for Paraguay between 1989 and 2003 – playing in Spain and France as well as spending most of his career with Velez Sarsfield in Argentina.
And seemingly playing for all of those years in South America has led him to believe he has a good eye for tricky forwards, leading him to believe the Paris Saint-Germain and France sensation is overhyped.
Mbappe is the world’s most valuable footballer and has a World Cup and World Cup final hat trick four years later to his name at just 24 years old, but that’s not enough to convince Chilavert.
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Despite Mbappe scoring a hat trick against South American nation Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final and outscoring South American teammates Lionel Messi and Neymar in the 2022/23 season, Chilavert still reckons he would be kept quiet if he played in South America.
Speaking on the Futbol de los grandes radio show, he said: “I would like to see him running at altitude in La Paz or Quito, or playing away in Brazil.
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(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
“Here he would be an average player, he’s predictable. Obviously he has an advantage with his speed, but with a defender blowing his neck we can control him calmly.”
Chilavert knows a world-class forward when he sees one after playing against Brazil and Argentina for Paraguay. But on one occasion he attempted to get too close against Argentina as he allegedly ‘threw punches’ at Diego Maradona and former Newcastle United man Faustino Asprilla – seeing him banned for four games.
The bonkers keeper was also suspended for the opening game of the 2002 World Cup after receiving a three-game ban for spitting at Roberto Carlos during the qualifying stages.
Chilavert’s behaviour also continued outside of football, in 2012 he made Anglophobic and homophobic comments towards the British ambassador to Paraguay Matthew Hedges. This followed an altercation regarding Hedges’ comments towards 12 farmers in a case relating to the deaths of six police officers and 11 rural workers.
All the while, international superstar Mbappe continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid after scoring 212 goals in 260 games to date for PSG.
