Money cannot buy the gifts that Kylian Mbappé received for his 25th birthday: two goals in the top division of France and watching your 16-year-old brother play professional soccer.
For someone who has achieved so much in the game of soccer, it is hard to believe that PSG’s all-time top scorer has only just reached this milestone and Mbappé reminded all those watching that he will be around for years to come with his performance against Metz on Wednesday.
Mbappé scored his first goal of the game, and it was a spectacular one, shortly after Vitinha gave PSG a 1-0 lead shortly before halftime.
After winning the golden boot in the 2022 World Cup, the player in the 60th minute picked up the ball just outside the Metz box and curled and dipped a spectacular strike in off the crossbar.
With a header from Matthieu Udol, Metz was back in the game, but Mbappé quickly quenched any nerves.
The French forward was gifted his second goal when he latched onto an under hit pass back to the Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja. Mbappé beat him to the ball, rounded the keeper and then tapped it into an open net to make it 3-1.
With the game nearing a conclusion, Mbappé was given his final present of the match when PSG manager Luis Enrique gave a debut to Ethan Mbappé as a 90th-minute substitute.
The 16-year-old was not on the field for long, but the Mbappé brothers were able to share the pitch together for the first time in senior football.
“I believe my brother received a wonderful birthday present. After the match, Ethan Mbappé told PSG, “I am really happy for him, as well as for myself.”
“I’m very happy,” Kylian added. In my opinion as his older brother, it is fantastic for Ethan even more.
“I had high expectations for the day, and this match will live on in my memory for a very long time.”
While speculation continues to mount over Kylian’s career as he will be free to negotiate with clubs in January as his PSG contract runs out in the summer, PSG fans will be hoping this will be the first of many times they see the Mbappés on the pitch together.
