After breaking his nose in the Euro 2024 opener against Austria, France superstar and Ballon d’Or candidate Kylian Mbappe will be fitted for a mask, allowing him to return to the pitch before his nose heals completely.
It has highlighted Mbappe’s comparison to the popular Nickelodeon animated series and comic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The 25-year-old sensation has been compared to one of the key characters since the beginning of his playing career. It began as a playful joke between colleagues and evolved into a humorous aspect of his public character.
The Sporting News explains how he obtained his nickname, how the analogy to one of the pizza-loving reptiles went viral, and how he rose to prominence following his injury in the major summer tournament with Les Bleus.
Kylian Mbappe asks for mask suggestions after a broken nose.
Mbappe was removed from France’s opening match against Austria and brought to hospital for further investigation after quick on-field treatment failed to stop the bleeding.
Real Madrid’s latest Galactico used X (previously Twitter) to relieve stress over his health by cracking a joke.
“Any ideas for masks?” he posted in French around 1:26 a.m. local time in Germany.
Mbappe will require a protective face mask when he returns to the pitch for France at Euro 2024. The internet was plenty of suggestions, many of which sprang from Mbappe’s favourite hobby, which he already has in the form of a cartoon turtle on his palm.
However, when Mbappe trained with France the day before their match against the Netherlands, he elected to wear a French ‘tricolore’ mask.
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Detailing Kylian Mbappe’s connection to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Mbappe’s potential need for a protective mask sparked a flurry of proposals on social media, the most of which were both stupid and impossible.
Many of these concerned the Nickelodeon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or TMNT for short, which features four crime-fighting mutants in half shells named after Renaissance-era Italian artists.
Mbappe’s public link to TMNT dates back seven years, when he joined PSG on loan from AS Monaco in 2017. Since then, teammates for both club and country have often mocked his resemblance to one of the titular cartoon characters.
Neymar did so aboard the PSG team bus in a 2017 video, joking, “Donatello, have some pizza!” but was turned down because Mbappe had already had some. Dani Alves, who was seen laughing at Neymar’s quip in the video, later posted a photo of a plush Donatello (the cartoon turtle, not the painter) on Instagram in 2018 with the remark “Donatello is fast, eh?”.
The most famous instance occurred in 2018, when his colleague Thiago Silva wrapped a Ninja Turtle mask in a luxury Dior box, causing the PSG dressing room to bust out laughing when Mbappe unwrapped it. He was later filmed wearing the mask and striking his famous arms-crossed posture.
Why is Kylian Mbappe nicknamed “Donatello”?
Some of Mbappe’s PSG colleagues thought the France star resembled Donatello, one of the Ninja Turtles, and the nickname stuck. Presnel Kimpembe, the defender, appears to have recognised it first.
Donatello, who wears a purple mask and carries a stick known as a “bo,” is regarded as the smartest (some might argue nerdiest) and most laid-back of the four major Turtles characters. The analogy is probably more about their personalities than any perceived physical resemblance, though it’s certainly entertaining for his pals to joke about the latter.
Donatello is commonly represented in cartoons or comic books speaking in scientific or technological jargon, and depending on devices rather than combat prowess.
As Mbappe develops into a global football superstar and world-class player, what began as a joke has become an integral aspect of the French star’s image. It grew a little too obvious over the last week.