Kylian Mbappe in Cameroon. |
French football’s top player, Kylian Mbappe, landed in Cameroon on Thursday to a jubilant greeting from supporters. His stay will involve volunteering with deaf youngsters and visiting his father’s village.
The 24-year-old striker was met by hundreds of people, many of whom were wearing the football uniform of his side, Paris Saint-Germain.
According to an AFP journalist, they yelled out his name loudly as he left the airport terminal in the nation’s capital, Yaoundé.
In commemoration, a troupe of roughly 100 traditional dancers gave a performance. Before being taken away in an SUV with tinted windows, the football player grinned broadly and greeted the fans from a distance while being maintained at a safe distance by police.
The multi-day visit by Mbappe, who is also the captain of France’s national team, will take place in a hotel complex owned by the Yaoundé-based family of Yannick Noah, a former French tennis champion.
According to his itinerary, which was obtained by AFP, he is scheduled to visit a school for children who are deaf and hard of hearing on the capital’s outskirts on Friday.
The son of Yannick Noah, retired NBA star Joakim Noah, is expected to play in the basketball game, in which he will also participate.
He later plays in a football game against the neighbourhood team, FC Vent d’Etoudi.
He travels to his father’s hometown of Djebale on Saturday. His father Wilfried Mbappe was a young man when he fled Cameroon for France, where he worked as a football coach.