Absent translation, uneasiness and too strong pass: the lunar conf of Mbappé, Messi, Neymar and PSG in Japan

It was lunar, but we had a good laugh. Arrived in Japan on Sunday for their “summer tour”, which will also serve as official preparation for the Champions Trophy and the start of the Ligue 1 season, the Paris Saint-Germain players complied with their contractual obligations as soon as they set foot on the ground.

The obligation for this Sunday was an official press conference to present the so-called “PSG Summer Tour 2022”. Paris had sent its attacking armada: Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar, with new coach Christophe Galtier. For half an hour, they answered questions, but not without suffering some inconvenience.

First of all, the induction of the guests, done in Japanese, lacked a direct translation, something that Christophe Galtier quickly pointed out. “I’m sorry, I don’t have a translation” A technician then arrived on stage to solve the sound problem, but she did not dare to dig into the pocket of the Parisian technician who was then speaking in a fragmented way. She finally took to their heels, while being… squatting.

The transponder issues continued unabated: Lionel Messi spoke in Spanish, but seeing the lack of translation, he stopped and asked Neymar: ‘I have to speak in French?‘, causing general hilarity. A few seconds later, Neymar also had translation problems.

Invited to speak by the host, the Brazilian did not say a word, having received no communication in his headset. It was Messi who took it upon himself to pass the question on to him. Again, Neymar had a good laugh. The Brazilian also had a great time. Kylian Mbappé reminded him that he had followed Japanese football well, especially at the 2018 World Cup. He had a huge success with the fans.

In the end, there was some ball anyway. Kylian Mbappé was treated to a very strong pass from a young fan. A pass he struggled to control. As he sat down again, the French striker launched towards Messi and Neymar: “Mama, the passMessi then exchanged passes of decent strength with another fan.

Then, Neymar was entitled to a… presentation on his career. A little uncomfortable, the Ney still replied to his interlocutor: “I played a lot of difficult matches with the selection, PSG, Barça, Santos. (…) My first match with Santos was the most special“, he said in his native language, before organizing a session of … imaginary passes. He does not miss one! In short, it was light and nice.