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Ireland defender Andrew Omobamidele marked Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo on his international debut and is now excited to face France forward Kylian Mbappe.
The Norwich City centre-back made his debut in September 2021 against Portugal in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. He was up against one of the greatest footballers of all time in Ronaldo. The legendary forward scored a brace to help his side to a 2-1 victory.
Omobamidele is now set to face another superstar footballer as Ireland prepare for a meeting with France in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers on March 27. The young defender is likely to go up against Mbappe, who has been one of the most prolific players in world football in recent years.
However, Omobamidele is not hiding from the challenge and is excited to face the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) talisman. Speaking of the upcoming game and his potential duel against Mbappe, the Irish defender said (via Irish News):
“I’d be happy. I’d embrace it. After the game you are walking off knowing where you are as a player, because that is the ultimate test for any defender in the world, really.
“I think everyone agrees that he is a good player, he is quick, and I’d like to think I’m quick as well, so I’d love to do a foot race or something like that, see how quick I am!”
Omobamidele was then asked how quick he was. He replied:
“We do it off metres-per-second. I think the quickest I’ve run is 10.4m-per-second, which is quick. I don’t know what Mbappe’s is, but we’ll see.”
Omobamidele's last appearance for Ireland came in a 3-0 win over Luxembourg back in November 2021. If he starts against France on Monday, the 20-year-old will hope to have a better outing than he did against Ronaldo last time out.
Former PSG man claims Mbappe can break Messi and Ronaldo's records
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated world football for more than a decade, making and breaking numerous records. However, they are in the twilight of their careers now.
Kylian Mbappe has been tipped to replicate the legendary duo's success and Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta believes the Frenchman will do so as well. After the PSG forward equaled Edinson Cavani's all-time goalscoring record for the club, Paqueta said:
"We are in front of a phenomenon that will mark history. He (Mbappe) is the best player in the world today. He deserves this record (of being the club's joint-top scorer), and I hope he will continue to score goals for PSG for a very long time.
"Kylian can break all records and follow the same path as Messi or Ronaldo. He's a phenomenon that can break all records."
The former AS Monaco man broke Cavani's record for PSG earlier this month and is currently on 202 goals in 250 games across competitions for the Parisians.
