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Ferdinand: I would have to say a prayer if I had to face Mbappe

Former Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand joked that he would have to say a prayer if he had to face France's teenage forward Kylian Mbappe on the field.

Despite not scoring in France's 1-0 win over Belgium, Mbappe continued to look dangerous and wreaked havoc in the Belgians' backline during their World Cup semi-final yesterday morning (Singapore time).

Ferdinand, speaking as a pundit on BBC, said: "To be 19 years old and creating that panic at a World Cup is huge. (How do you defend against Mbappe?) You look up and say "please help me!". You need people around you. You need bodies.

"I used to do it sometimes, especially in the latter stages of my career, if I was playing against someone quick, I'd get Michael Carrick or someone in front.

"Stop the ball in to him, stop them at source. As soon as the ball gets in to these guys, do not let them face you."

While the thought of facing Mbappe got Ferdinand nervous, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said watching the Paris Saint-Germain player in action has a soothing effect.

Wenger told beIN Sports: "He is the type of player who always makes you hopeful when he gets the ball that he's going to do something special.

"Watching him soothes the heart."

Mbappe's back-heel pass to striker Olivier Giroud had Ferdinand and fellow BBC pundits Danny Murphy and Pat Nevin waxing lyrical.

Although Giroud failed to score after going on to face Thibaut Courtois one-on-one, it was Mbappe's cheeky back-heel that had them purring.

Nevin added: "What about the touch from Mbappe? By miles the best touch of the match. That was absolutely gorgeous from Mbappe."

Murphy added: "Kylian Mbappe seems to have a maturity that you shouldn't possess at that age and it's all so effortless. He's exceeded expectations and everyone is enjoying watching him play."

When French TV station TF1 asked Mbappe on his thoughts about ending Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's stranglehold on the Ballon d'Or, he replied: "I couldn't care less about that."

Mbappe, who was born on Dec 20, 1998, five months after Didier Deschamps captained Les Bleus to their first World Cup victory, then showed his single-mindedness to attain team glory on Sunday.

He said: "I want the World Cup. I want to sleep with it. I wasn't born in (July) 1998, so I have never seen people on the Champs-Elysees celebrating.

"I am going to give everything in this final. We will kill ourselves on the pitch to finish the job."

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