Cult Socceroos hero Jason Cummings has revealed French superstars Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud were so keen to snub him after their World Cup clash, the latter even pretended he didn’t speak English.
Cummings, who came on in the 56th minute in the Socceroos disastrous 4-1 loss to Les Bleus open their World Cup campaign, was desperate to secure the playing shirt of one of world football’s biggest superstars, Mbappe.
The 27-year-old Central Coast Mariners striker hilariously recalled the exchanges where he was brutally snubbed by both French forwards.
Cult Socceroos star Jason Cummings has revealed the moment he was brutally snubbed by two French players as he tried to swap shirts with them at the World Cup
‘After the France game, I actually tried to get Mbappe – forget Giroud, I went for the top boy Mbappe – and he told me to meet him in the change rooms,’ he said on Channel 10 show The Project on Tuesday night.
‘So I went to the changing room and the kit man was there and I gave him my top and 10 minutes later he came out with my jersey and says: “Nah, absolutely not, (Mbappe) doesn’t want to swap”.’
Cummings then had to change tack – but unfortunately for him, Giroud was even more brutal about his request to swap shirts.
French superstar Kylian Mbappe was not too keen to swap shirts with the Socceroos star
‘So when I was walking back to my change room and I’ve seen Giroud and I’m walking, as handsome as ever, and I asked him, “Giroud, please man, can I get your shirt, man? I’m a big fan, can I get your shirt?”,’ he recalled.
‘And he just walked past me, pretended he never spoke English! And he’s been in the Premier League for 10 years! He just walked right past me!’
Olivier Giroud was so keen to avoid Cummings and a potential shirt swap, he pretended he didn’t speak any English
The anecdote took a light-hearted look at a practice many Socceroos fans criticised after the team’s Round of 16 loss to Argentina in particular.
Footage showed many Aussie players asking for photos and jersey swaps with the Argentina stars, and many thought it showed they were ‘fan boys’ rather than focused athletes.
‘They should be suspended from the national team,’ one person wrote on Twitter.
‘I think a lot of people would be upset still at leaving the World Cup to worry about a selfie with Messi,’ a second agreed.
‘Deserved to lose. Imagine being the reason your country is out of the World Cup and you don’t even care and your smiling,’ a third said.
Jason Cummings (left) had a little more luck asking for a photo with Lionel Messi (right) – who happily obliged several photo requests with Socceroos stars
At least Cummings had better luck with Messi than he did with Mbappe and Giroud.
The cult figure posted a photo with the now-World Cup winner captioned simply with a goat emoji to show his support for the theory that Messi is now officially the ‘Greatest Player Of All Time’.
The meet-up went so well, that Cummings even – tongue in cheek – suggested a bit of social media advice he threw Messi’s way was part of the reason he was able to guide Argentina to victory over France in the final.
Jason Cummings offered Lionel Messi (the pair are pictured hugging after their Round of 16 clash) a bit of cheeky advice on social media prior to the final, and he jokingly claims it was part of their win
‘Do the basics right Leo. Don’t play the occasion, play the game. All the best,’ he wrote alongside a picture of the pair hugging after their encounter.
‘I think I deserve a lot of credit (for Messi’s World Cup showing) – he’s definitely checked his phone just before, he’s seen the Cumdog pop up on his Instagram there,’ Cummings said with a wide smile.
‘He’s checked that and it just gave him that extra motivation.’
Cummings has returned back to the Mariners, with the side sitting precariously placed at fifth on the ladder.
While it is not sure as of yet whether Victory’s game will go ahead this weekend due to the violent derby scenes on Saturday, Cummings and his teammates will take on the 10th-placed Jets on Wednesday night for a chance to move up the ladder.
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