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Luke Shaw fires Kylian Mbappe warning to England ahead of World Cup quarter-final.
Before their World Cup quarterfinal matchup against France, Luke Shaw cautioned England that it would be “naive” of them to concentrate on stopping Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe has been the tournament’s star performer and is now in the lead for the Golden Boot with five goals through four games, coupled with two assists for good measure.
Although Shaw has warned his England teammates that France is the current world champions for a reason—they are more than just a one-man show—despite being the game’s clear danger man.
“Obviously after his performance (against Poland) there’s going to be even more chat about him but we know he’s a world-class player,” Shaw said. “I think it would be very naive of us to focus purely on him. They’re reigning world champions for a reason and we need to focus on them as a whole team.
“They have brilliant players over the whole pitch so we’re not going to fully focus on him, but it’s an amazing tie to be involved in and that’s why we’re here.”
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Alongside Mbappe, France has relied on excellent performances from Antoine Griezmann, Adrien Rabiot and Olivier Giroud, the latter of whom has overtaken Thierry Henry to become the leading scorer in the history of the national team.
“It’s obviously not going to be easy. They are reigning world champions and they are that for a reason,” Shaw continued. “It will be a very tough game and mentally we have to be ready and focused because we have to be at 100% to win this game and we know that.”
The Man Utd left-back added: “It’s been an amazing tournament, an unbelievable one to watch and it shows no game is easy.
“We always speak before about the favourites and this and that and when you come to a World Cup it’s always different – the atmosphere, the game, the heat.
“It’s all things you need to get used to and I think you’ve seen with a couple of the big names you maybe think should be through are not and that shows we’re obviously doing the right things at the moment, but I think we need to step up another level because France are a very good team.”