Champions League

Mbappe praises Rashford for fight against child poverty

The Man Utd striker recently received an MBE for his charity work away from the football pitch

1:47pm on Tuesday 20th October 2020
By Martin Macdonald

Kylian Mbappe has praised the efforts of Marcus Rashford to combat child poverty in the UK.

In October of last year Rashford teamed with Selfridges for their 'In The Box' campaign which was created to deliver meals to those less fortunate over the Christmas period.

Then, during lockdown, he championed an initiative to provide meals to children who were not at school during the pandemic, who otherwise would have been in education receiving free school meals.

To this day, he continues to lobby the UK government to extend free school meals into the holiday period.

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Mbappe, who will be on the opposing team to Rashford in this Tuesday's Champions League clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, believes footballers should follow the Englishman's lead in engaging in more philanthropy.

"To tackle an issue as important as child poverty is one of the most important things that somebody can do - so I have full respect that he has been doing that and trying to make a real change," Mbappe told the Daily Mirror.

"I do think there is a requirement for players to use their position to make a difference in the world. We have been given so much and it is important that we give back."

Mbappe has also revealed that he has had conversations with compatriot Paul Pogba about the on-the-pitch qualities of Rashford.

"He is one of the most dangerous forward players in England," the Frenchman said.

"Paul [Pogba] has spoken about how special he is - and he does not talk about players in such a way often."

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